Conclusion to Getting it Right
by Moonprincess92
Summary: Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen Complete:
1. The Prologue One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, prologues or sequels. I do, however, own GIR World. :)

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Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

**Note:** This story is the sequel to my previous story, _Getting it Right_. It is highly recommended that you read that story first, since it will make this one have a hell of a lot more sense.

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_This story is dedicated to my family. Mum, Dad, Neil, Debi, Becca, Kelly, Grandma and Nessie, I love you guys so much xox._

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Prologue: The Prologue One.

_There are many moments in life you simply have no name for. _

_Either they're too boring to even consider a name, zip by so fast that you don't get the chance, or are simply too insane. Sometimes, there are points where you just simply don't know what to call something. _

_This was the case for Rose Weasley's life. Her fifth-year at Hogwarts had held many name-worthy moments (mainly due to the fact that Scorpius Malfoy was, in some way, included in all of them) yet she found that she was never creative enough to think of clever names. Things like The Confrontation and The Quidditch Celebrations hadn't been thought of by her and eventually, she came to reference these crucial moments of her life things such as, "Oh, that one time with the newt?", "The one when Al and Bea were snogging for England!", "That really sticky one," or "The right one, remember?" _

_Therefore, Rose's life became a life of 'one's. _

_Since there were so many ones that she had lived through and survived (though would also, quite frankly, like to forget about), Rose figured that the rest of her life would be fine. There would be no more ones. However, she soon realised that the course to getting it right was far from over. _

_Her conclusion? _

_This is the Rosie and Scorpius One. And the Al one, the Bea one, the Lucy Bloody Harley one, the Libby, Trevor, Gerald and Ally one, the idiot cousin one, the creepy boss one, the new girlfriend one, the old girlfriend one, the learning to cook one, the wedding from hell one, the vulture one, the right one and the wrong one …_

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A/N: Ok, so I said I would probably never write a sequel to _Getting it Right_. I apparently lied! This idea has actually been in the works since I finished GIR back when I was 17 (_good god, was that actually four years ago?_). But it was always just something I would chip away at and I never seriously considered writing it until now.

I honestly hope you are all glad to see this story start; I promise you, we're in for a wild ride! Please take the time to tell me what your thoughts are. I would love to hear whether you're as excited for this as I am!

Because I'm _seriously_ excited. Reviews would be very appreciated!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	2. The First One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, St Mungo's Hospital or trying to live without your parents or house-elves.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter One: The First One.

(_My first year out of Hogwarts, 2024_)

(_A life lesson from the girl who is trying to cook dinner_)

(_Oh, I'm so going to die_)

My first night away from home and I'm going to be _slaughtered_ by my best mate.

"Look, I'm sure you just give it a poke like this …" Bea was saying, hovering over the ham she was meant to be cooking, gripping her wand tightly. I just gave an exasperated sigh. I was _actually_ going to be killed.

"Bea, _please_ would you just wait until Scorpius gets here?" I asked, desperately. "You have no flipping clue as to what you're doing!"

"_Rosie_!" Bea turned to face me and I cringed back. I shifted one of the many boxes of our crap that we'd still not unpacked off a chair so I could sit down, warily. Geez, with her wand in her hand like that, I didn't particularly want to argue. "It's only our first night and you're already calling in the boyfriend! No, I won't let Scorpius have to deal with this! _I_ can do it! I'm a Ravenclaw, for god's sake!"

"And I thought Ravenclaw's were meant to be smart?" I told her, eyeing her wand.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Bea, this is the stupidest idea you've ever had," I said, flatly. "Not to be horribly blunt or anything, but you _suck_ at cooking. Or cleaning. Or basically anything house-holdy. Let's face it, traditionally, you'd be an awful wife!"

Bea just huffed and sat down at the table with me. "Ah, hell, you're right …" she muttered.

I just managed a shaky laugh, a lot more relieved now that the threat of exploding ham had receded somewhat. Ok, my life should be going brilliantly at the moment. I mean, I've finally moved out of home and I'm living with my best friend since we were eleven. I have a job and a boyfriend! I should be, y'know, living the dream as the Muggles say!

Except, there's considering that my job is at my uncle's joke shop and I hate my boyfriend half the time …

"Bea, what the hell are we doing?" I asked. Bea glanced up, confused.

"Trying and failing miserably to cook dinner?" she said.

I sighed. "We can't live by _ourselves_!" I said. "Neither of us can cook to save our lives! I had to send an owl to _Scorpius_ so he could come and cook for us!"

"Yeah, it is weird that that bloke can make one hell of a roast …"

I rolled my eyes. "Point is we can't survive this, Bea! We're no longer at home where our mums look after us. Not even at Hogwarts where house-elves do all the cleaning! Think about it, we're going to have to do our own _washing_! We don't have a washing machine! How're we going to clean our clothes?!"

"Rosie, there's a Muggle launderette just down the road …" Bea put in, but I ignored her.

"I mean, just look at our flat!" I said, gesturing to the tiny lounge that came off the kitchen. Currently, it contained one beaten up sofa which I had taken the liberty of commandeering from my grandma's attic at the Burrow, a bookcase, a desk and a billion odd so boxes. "It's tiny! It's eleven thirty at night and we're still trying to cook dinner! I don't even know where to _start_ looking for my pyjamas and I'm working at a bloody _joke shop_!"

Bea placed a hand on my arm, making me sit down. Oh right, I had apparently stood up during my rant. I hadn't even realised. "Rosie, you're not just worried about our inability to cook, are you?" she asked me.

"Oh, fine," I sighed. "No, Bea, of course I'm not. I don't know what the hell I'm doing with my life. No idea at all. I mean, you all know what you want to do! Bea Bowmen, writer for _Witch Weekly_!"

"Well, hopefully after a few years of hard slog, I won't have to write for that trashy magazine anymore," Bea put in. "But yeah … a writer."

"And Al Potter, International Magical Co-operation!" I said.

"If he decides to stay in the bloody country," Bea grumbled. "For god's sake, I know he'd be near his Uncle Charlie if he went to Romania, but do I mean _nothing_ to him?"

"He'll stay in England Bea, I'm sure," I told her, soothingly. "If Auntie Ginny has anything to say about it. And then there's Scorpius Malfoy," I added. "Worker in Muggle Relations!"

"Yeah, I think Muggle Studies hit him pretty hard," Bea snorted. "I think that was the first time your dad ever looked at Scorpius without forcing a smile."

I grinned at the memory of Scorpius telling my mum and dad what he was going to do once he left Hogwarts. I had honestly thought that Dad was going to pass out from shock and that Mum was going to kiss him.

"And then there's me," I continued. "Rose Weasley. Working for her uncle at a joke shop in Diagon Alley? I love Uncle George, but I don't want to do that for the rest of my _life_, Bea!"

Bea sighed. "Look Rosie, you're not the only person who's ever left Hogwarts not knowing what they want to do," she said. "Look at Libby, she's working at that Muggle café down the road from the fruit and vege market!"

"To pay for tuition fees so she can become a Cursebreaker!" I said. "She starts training in September! Let's face it, an Obliviator, working in Control of Magical Creatures and a broomstick charmer," I said all of the hopeful professions of Jo, Trevor and Toby, respectfully. "All of our mates know what they want to do with their lives! They might have different jobs right now, but ultimately, they know what they're all working towards! I have no idea! I don't exactly want to be CEO of Weasley's Wizards Wheezes!"

"Rosie, we all know that you're not going to work at Weasley's Wizards Wheezes for the rest of your life–"

"How d'you know that?" I demanded. "That's how it _always_ starts! I _say_ I'm only working there until I find a proper job and next thing you know, I've been there for fifty years and I'm an old cat lady living by myself near the train station so I can make sandwiches and feed them to the homeless!"

"I can see you've put a lot of thought into this life plan of yours …" Bea muttered to herself. I just rolled my eyes; an unfortunate habit. "Rose Charlotte Weasley, you can do anything! You want to become an old cat lady, then fine! But if you want to get out there in the world and _do_ something with your life, then you can!"

"But I don't know _what_ I want to do …" I muttered. Bea sighed.

"Well, we'll figure that out eventually. In the meantime," she added, standing up and heading back towards the ham. "We can cook tea! I'm bloody starving and I bet if I give it a little _zing_ this time, it'll work–"

"Oh, Bea, don't!" I yelled, but she just shook me off.

Yep, going to be murdered.

Thankfully, Scorpius chose that moment to finally show up. "Don't fret, my girls, Scorpius is here!" he yelled from the front door. "And before you go on at me about being very late, I'll have you know that had to file some papers an–"

"You took your bloody time!" I said to him and, as a greeting, I handed him a frying pan.

"Er, what's this for?" he asked.

"Duck and cover!" was all I yelled before diving underneath the table. Scorpius glanced at me confusedly while Bea said,

"Yeah, this'll do it … _incendio_!"

BANG!

All three of us yelled as the ham _exploded_. Everything in our tiny kitchen was soon covered in the remaining bits of what was supposed to be our tea. Bea stood in the middle, completely unrecognisable as she was also covered. I glanced behind me to see that Scorpius had managed to save his face from the ham, though that couldn't be said for the rest of him.

"Oh …" he said, glancing at the pan I'd given him as I crawled out from the table. "That's what that was for. Thanks."

"Well …" Bea said, wiping ham from her eyes. "I think that did it!"

There were a few moments of silence. Then,

"Anyone for pizza?" I asked.

Scorpius grinned. "You read my mind."

Rose: 1, Scorpius: 0.

(So sue me, I can't help but turn this into a competition).

* * *

(_My cousin cracks his head open_)

(_And I somehow find out what I want to do with my life_)

"I'm starting to regret your decision to stay in England, mate!" Scorpius forced out, attempting to drag Al's desk down the corridor to his, and now Al's, flat.

"Well, I'm not," Bea put in, throwing her arms around my cousin's neck. Al grinned at her. "Besides, I knew he'd stay."

"Because you would've killed me if I didn't." Al said.

"Would you two stop revelling in the fact that you're both in the same country and help us move all of your crap?" I huffed, carrying a large box full of Al's clothes. "Hi!" I hastily added to a pair of Muggles who passed us in the hallway.

It was flipping typical that Al had to choose today of all days to move in. Magic was pretty much non-existent right now, thanks to some sort of event that was going on in the street below. I wasn't even sure what it was, could've been a street circus for all I knew. But what I did know was that it caused the Muggles who lived in our flat building with us to swarm all over the place! Our block of flats was on a corner and there were three large balconies attached to our building, one on each floor at the end of each hallway, over-looking the street. The doors to our building were around the corner, facing the other street. Muggles ran back and forth between flats and up and down levels, trying to watch whatever was going on outside. With so many people about, we were forced to resort to manual labour to lug all of Al's belongings into Scorpius's flat and him and Bea being all Mr and Mrs PDA was _not_ helping matters.

Scorpius and I exchanged exasperated looks when all Al and Bea did was continue to kiss each other. "OI!" I eventually yelled. "Stop snogging and _help_ us!"

"Fine, fine!" Al said, as he and Bea finally broke apart. Eventually, we managed to get the desk and box of clothes into the second-floor flat, right next to the balcony and two doors down from mine and Bea's.

It was just so odd that Al was moving in with Scorpius of all people. In fact, it was weird to think he was even in the same country. Seventh-year had, of course, made us all think about what we wanted to do with the rest of our lives and Al had decided that he wanted to spend his working for the Department of International Magical Co-operation. He applied for several different positions and, despite his constant worrying, he got offered a job. The only problem was that the job was in Romania.

Since none of the Potter children can _ever_ do things halfway, Al had made the hard decision to take the job and move to Romania after Hogwarts. Naturally, there had been a lot of conflict and disagreements over Al's decision. While Uncle Harry had encouraged Al to take all opportunities he was offered, Auntie Ginny was a little harder to convince, since she had refused point-blank to let her youngest son go 'traipsing around Europe and ending up murdered in a ditch somewhere', in her words.

Bea had been rather torn between being the supportive girlfriend and trying to get him to change his mind. By this point, Bea had already been offered a job here in England, so it was obvious that she couldn't go with him. In the end, it had all come to a head last week during a rather large family argument, though Auntie Ginny still insists that it was a 'family talk'.

Basically, James and Lily had sat in the background, making a list of all the things they wanted their brother to buy them in Romania for Christmas, while there had been a lot of screaming, crying and the occasional hex between Al and his mum. It was only when wands came out and Lily ended up with a third hand that Al had finally admitted that he was terrified at the thought of leaving his family and said he would talk to his boss at the Ministry to see if he could get a job in England. His boss hadn't been happy, but he'd agreed and Al had one week to try and find somewhere to live. Luckily, Scorpius hadn't found a roommate yet.

"Thank – _Merlin_!" I dumped the large box onto Scorpius's sofa. "That's about, oh fifteen boxes down, another bazillion to go. You haven't even said thank you for our slave labour!"

Al laughed and came over to hug me tightly. I hugged him back. I had never wanted to admit it, but I had cried the night Al had said he was leaving and I couldn't have been more grateful for the fact that he was staying. "Thank you Rosie, my absolute favourite cousin!"

I just rolled my eyes. "Scorpius, you keep an eye on this one." I said, pointing resolutely to Al's back as he swung me around.

"Oh, I will," Scorpius said, moving over to punch Al on the arm. Unfortunately for him, this got him a smack from Bea. "Ouch! That hurt!"

"It was meant to." Bea sniggered.

I rolled my eyes. Ok, so while they'd gotten slightly better over the years, Scorpius and Bea's relationship was one that was still yet to change. While most of our immediate friends and family had gotten used to the idea of being friendly with the Slytherin's (though like Libby said on occasion, it was still kind of weird), Bea found it was a lot more fun to tease Scorpius and pretty much act like we were still fifteen. Sometimes I didn't know who was in a relationship with him, me or Bea.

Al and Scorpius were another story entirely, a story that once we were told, we'd nearly collapsed from shock. It was one day, during sixth-year, when Bea and I had gone to Hogsmeade together without the boys to go Christmas shopping and to get some time away from the idiots in our lives. We'd been a bit apprehensive about leaving Al and Scorpius together, since alone, the two had still yet to see eye to eye and I think we'd been half-expecting the castle to blow up or something. However, we had come back to find Al and Scorpius sitting in the joint common room together, completely covered in black paint and laughing their arses off.

Apparently, they had accidentally gotten stuck in the cross-fire of one of the Idiot Twins' crazy plans and both had blamed the other for getting caught in the middle of it. But, apparently, running around the castle all day, trying to escape the teachers was enough to make _any_ two people become the best of friends; and, well, the two have been inseparable ever since.

I swear, Uncle Harry nearly cried when he found out. I'm still not sure whether it was in happiness or in desolation.

Then as it turned out, two solid relationships with Scorpius Malfoy from two different Potter/Weasley's was enough to bring our two groups together. While there was often a lot of yelling, teasing, hexing and occasional tears, it was quite common to see Al, Bea and I, along with Libby and Jo, and Geraldine occasionally, sat together with Lucas Nott, Danny Parker and (god forbid), Lucy Harley. Apparently, it had been the weirdest bonding experience between two groups that Hogwarts had ever seen.

"C'mon, another trip!" Al said enthusiastically, bounding for the door. "There's not much left! One more load should do it!"

"Yeah, another trip, another blister on my hands …" I muttered, darkly. Scorpius only snorted with laughter; however, it soon turned into a sympathetic _ouch_ as my idiot cousin smacked straight into one of the million boxes we'd trekked in here. Good ol' Al always did have co-ordination problems. As a result from walking into the box, he tripped and, of course, whacked his head on the coffee table that we had moved so that we _wouldn't_ hurt ourselves tripping over it.

"Oh, this is just typical!" Bea huffed as Al hit the floor without so much as a yelp of pain. "C'mon Al, don't you believe for one second that you hurting yourself again will get you out of having to move all of your crap …"

The three of us all made our way to crowd around my cousin on the floor. The reasons for Al not shrieking like the little girl that he can sometimes be became apparent almost immediately. There was a lovely red gash on his forehead from where he hit the coffee table and he was completely out cold.

"Oh, Al, the grace with which you do things astounds me all the time …" I said, shaking my head. Pulling out my wand, I poked the gash on his head and the blood zoomed back inside his body where it belonged.

"He'll be alright, won't he …?" Bea asked uncertainly, prodding Al's shoulder. "Al, it's Bea! Wake up!"

"Try _r__ennervate_?" Scorpius suggested, but after several rounds of this and getting no response whatsoever, Bea only grew more and more panicky.

So, of course, we ended up in St Mungo's.

"My boyfriend won't wake up!" Bea practically screeched at the front reception. One of the three ladies, who's name badge said Catie, nearly swallowed her gum in alarm when Bea hurtled herself up to her desk, slamming her hands down.

"Er …" Catie said, looking slightly frightened. I just sighed. For god's sake, you'd think she'd be used to this!

"Look, hi," I said, tugging Bea out of the way and shooing her to stand with Scorpius, who was currently floating Al several centimetres off the floor in the waiting room. "My cousin went and knocked himself out and now we can't wake him. Could you please tell us which floor we need?"

Suitably calmer, Catie said, "G-ground floor …"

"Thank you very much!" I said as sweetly as I possibly could before shepherding the others off to the accidents wing.

* * *

Oh my _god_, this place was amazing.

"Rosie, Al's going some sort of green colour … d'you think the Healer should be taking this long finding a way to wake him – Rosie?" Bea turned around, apparently confused to see I that wasn't anywhere in sight.

Last time I had been at St Mungo's hospital, I was three years old and it was when my youngest cousin, Roxanne, was born. I had completely forgotten what this place was like. It was just so …

Oh my _flippin'_ god.

"Rosie, what the hell're you doing?" came Bea's voice and I turned to see that she had followed me from where I was wandering around the ground floor accidents department. Al was currently still lying comatose on a bed in one of the cubicles, waiting to be seen by a Healer. "Scorpius went to go get tea, but you were right here! What the hell are you doing?"

"Bea, look!" I said, completely ignoring her words as I grabbed her arm and dragged her over to the waiting room of the accidents department. Here, there were a few kids no older than five, playing happily in the corner. "These kids were mucking about and accidentally fell on their dad's wand, right, and they ended up stuck together – like they were literally _stuck_, their bodies got fused together! Mum was hysterical, but this Healer fixed it, no problem!"

"That's great, Ro–"

"And that guy over there–" I pointed out a bloke whose beard only a short while ago had been smoking. "He owns that apothecary shop in Diagon Alley and was mixing up a new potion when it just blew up in his face! Set his beard on fire with all these little fire pixies or whatever the hell they were, but look, he's fine!"

"Yeah, Ro–"

"And they're all just so lovely!" I kept on going, looking around the room in amazement. "I was talking to this one Healer, right, 'cause they had this patient that was sneezing bubbles and I got curious. In the end, when they realised that I wasn't going to go away, they asked me what I thought might be wrong with the bubble-sneezing patient, so I guessed a simple spell for cleaning that went a bit wrong and they said I got it in one!"

"Well roll out the flippin' bridal train, why don't you just marry the place?" Bea cut in over me before I could start rambling again, sighing and rolling her eyes. I shot her a look.

"Bea, was that _sarcasm_?" I asked.

"Oh, no …"

"Miss?"

I turned and saw the young Healer who I'd been talking to before. He was carrying several pamphlets as well as a clipboard. "I've just spoken to Healer Pallenson," he said, consulting the clipboard. He turned to Bea and added, "Your partner is going to be fine."

"Oh, thank Merlin …" Bea sighed.

"But I found these in our staffroom and I thought you might be interested," the Healer said, handing me the pamphlets. "You sounded like you might have a knack for this and we could always do with more Healers. Talk to main reception, they'll be able to help you out."

"Oh – yes – thank you!" I stammered, staring at the six or so pamphlets, the first of which that said, _So you want to be a Healer? _

Bea was grinning as the Healer moved away. "There you go," she said. "CEO of Weasley's Wizards Wheezes, my arse."

Later, while Al was currently being discharged, I found myself talking to the three ladies at the main reception desk.

"So you're not accepting at _all_?" I said, my face falling. I realised that I was actually disappointed when the lovely Catie told me the deadline for new applications closed a week ago.

"Well, no, we still receive late applications," Catie said, sliding her glasses up her nose and eyeing me over. "And while by policy, we do accept them for up to three weeks, they generally have to work harder to get in. We basically never choose the late ones–"

"But there's still a _chance_?" I cut in.

Catie exchanged a glance with her fellow reception workers. "It's quite intense," she said, in a way that made it sound like I wouldn't be up to it. "It's five years of training and you have to get through interviews first, then the on-job experience, but … well … there's a possibility."

Right.

"Give me an application."

Five minutes later, Scorpius turned up with a very groggy Al in tow. When he noticed that I was hunched over a coffee table in the main reception, he asked, "Er … what's going on?"

"Forget Weasley's Wizards Wheezes, Rosie's going to be CEO of St Mungo's." Bea said in answer.

"Ah," Scorpius said. "The entire wizarding world's going to die, isn't it?"

Rose: 2, Scorpius: 0.

(Shut up, I know what I'm going to do with my life!).

* * *

(_It's going to be me and Gerald versus the vultures_)

(_I want to be a Healer _why_ again?_)

Good Merlin, this had to be the most terrifying moment of my life.

I never actually expected to get accepted into the Healer programme this year round. They take new applications each year but since I had passed the application date, I was one of the last to be interviewed and, of course, I stammered and forgot everything I was going to say about how I would make a good Healer. But for some amazing reason, I got an owl stating that I passed the interview and that they wanted me to complete what they called an OJE, or an 'on-job experience'. Basically, I was assigned to a Healer along with a bunch of other potential applicants and told to help out. I think it was mainly to find out whether you were going to get along with the other potential applicants and that you didn't faint at the sight of blood.

(Like one girl who was in my group; she was fresh out of Hogwarts and I recognised her from Hufflepuff in my year. She had apparently wanted to be a Healer all her life. I felt a bit put out since I had only decided that this was what I wanted to do a few weeks ago, but that changed when the first patient with his arm turned inside-out came through and she promptly keeled over).

Exactly a week ago, I got the owl saying I was in.

Naturally it was all jumping up and down and screaming in celebration, then, of course, running down to the boys' flat to scream and jump up and down there. Luckily, Al and Scorpius's flat was at the end of the corridor and the flat opposite them had no one living in it yet, so we only had one potential neighbour to worry about pissing off.

But today was my first official day of work and I was bloody terrified.

Walking into the trainee staffroom, I didn't know whether to be nice or act hostile towards my fellow trainees. There were thirty of us in total, however the selection process wasn't over yet. Going into this programme every single one of us knew that one day, five years from now, the Head Healers and CEO of St Mungo's would be deciding which half of the thirty new trainees they wanted to cull and which they wanted to keep. Only fifteen actually made it to become full Healers. Oh, we get paid for our five years of training (my mum made sure of that; she doesn't work in the Law Enforcement department for nothing), but there's a very good chance that at the end of five years, I'm going to come out with five years' worth of experience and still not be able to call myself an official Healer.

Naturally, it was hard to guess whether making friends was a good or bad thing, since we'd all be competing. One girl with a long, brown pony-tail was obviously going for the 'hostile' approach, as she turned her nose up at anyone who caught her eye.

Oh, blimey. I went to sit down next to another girl, far away from the brown-haired swot, only for her to say, "Er, this seat is taken."

I glanced around the staffroom. There were still about ten people yet to turn up.

"There's no one else waiting for a seat …"

"Ok, let me re-phrase," She gave a smile that was obviously fake, flicking back her blond hair. "I don't care who this seat is taken by, so long as it's not you."

She and the brown-ponytail girl on the other side of the room shared a laugh and the brown-haired girl beckoned the blond over to sit next to her. I was so shocked, I just backed away without saying anything.

Bloody hell, I wasn't expecting this. I mean, I was expecting some sort of _I don't want to get too close since we will be competing for a spot as a full-Healer_ but not this!

While some of the other trainees were giving me sort of pitying looks, no one offered up any chairs around the giant table. Eventually, a burly bloke with sandy hair and lots of freckles grabbed my arm as I hesitantly walked past and practically threw me down into the seat next to him.

"Don't listen to the vultures," he said, grinning at me. "They're bitches and they know it. They only got in because their daddies are rich."

"Ah," I said, not entirely sure where this bloke came from, but grateful at any rate. "Thanks. I guess. Erm, I'm Rosie."

"I know," he answered. "So does everyone else. That's why none of them will talk to you. We all heard that a late application got accepted and that she was a Weasley. Late applications _never_ get accepted. We all assumed that you either bribed the bloke who did the selections, or was sleeping with the CEO."

I blinked at that. _Seriously_? What was _wrong_ with these people? "Well, not only am I completely broke to begin with, but my boyfriend would be very pissed off if I was sleeping with the CEO." I answered.

The bloke snorted with laughter. "I'm Gerald," he said. "Gerald Brown. I didn't believe for one second you were sleeping with the CEO."

"And why's that?"

"The way you walked in here!" Gerald said, grinning. "It was like you were being sent to the gallows! If you'd got it on with the big boss, you'd have to at least have some sort of confidence."

"Like the vultures, you mean?" I asked.

Gerald shrugged. "I know the sort, they come through every year," he said. "Have rich families and their dads put in a good word for them so they get accepted. Half of them make it to full-Healer and don't even know the difference between a switching spell and a spell to stop bleeding."

"And you do?" I asked in horror. Bloody hell, I was going to have to comb over every single one of my many text books when I got home; I _knew_ I should've memorised them all before today!

Gerald snorted again. "Only because I've done part of the training before," he said. "Applied straight out of Hogwarts for two years before I got accepted as a trainee. Last year I didn't make the cut, so here's hoping that this year they screw the vultures and actually take the decent ones who know what they're doing for a change."

"Wait, you have to do all the training again?" I asked. Good god, I couldn't imagine going through five years again!

"Oh, no!" Gerald shook his head. "They sort of cull over the five years so it's not such a hard decision at the end of it. Loads of people drop out when they realise the work is too hard and most get kicked out in the first year. That happened to me and only because the Healer in charge was the uncle of one of the vultures. So I'm one of the oldies coming back, like Ally over there," He nodded to a girl reading one of their text books intensely. When Gerald called out, she looked up and waved shyly. "She got cut halfway through last year too. I mean, you at least get paid during the training, but still. You're rather young," he added, glancing at me. "I take it you came straight from Hogwarts?"

I nodded. "Um, yeah. I had no idea what I was going to do when I left. Then, when he was moving into his flat, my cousin cracked his head open and I decided I wanted to be a Healer."

Gerald snorted. "I like you, Rosie," he said. "I hope you get in. I'd hate to have to sabotage you so I get your spot instead."

My eyes widened. "People actually _do_ that?"

He nodded. "Oh, you should hear the stories from the fifth-year trainees!" he said. "Apparently once, a trainee was supposed to be treating Dragon Pox, right – simplest thing in the world – and one of the others screwed up the potions so the Healer ended up with the disease instead!"

"And I want to do this why?" I mused out loud.

"I was like that," Gerald said, shrugging. "But at the end of the day, it's the job I want, even though getting there is hard."

I actually understood that, as I felt the same. Just as I agreed with him, the last two members of our trainee group came in through the door. One of them I didn't know, a curly-haired girl who kept her head down and tripped when she didn't see a chair coming. The other, however, I knew quite plainly. I hadn't seen her since I had left Hogwarts and was bloody glad for it. Of course she flipped her hair before sitting right down next to the vultures.

I swore loudly, causing Gerald to give me a questioning look.

"Lucy _bloody_ Harley!" I snarled.

Rose: 2, Scorpius: 1.

(Ok, technically Harley should get this point, but she's not in this competition so screw her).

* * *

(_God, if this is what he does every time …_)

(_He should prove a point more often_)

"No bloody way."

"Rosie, it's not like she's moving in with _me_!"

"Don't even _joke_."

Scorpius gave an exasperated sigh. "Well, what d'you want me to do?!" he huffed, folding his arms across his chest. "Tell her 'no sorry, you can't move in across the hall from me! Why? Oh, it's just because my girlfriend is being a jealous bitch, nothing really'!"

"Well, how'd you _expect_ me to react?!" I said, outraged.

"For god's sake, you hung out with her at Hogwarts!" Scorpius yelled. "How is this any different?!"

"I only did that because she was friends with you!" I yelled back. Honestly! Lucy Harley moves in across from him and he thinks everything's going to be just hunky-dory?! Not bloody likely! That flat's been un-occupied ever since we moved in, did they _seriously_ have to let someone live there now?

Scorpius rubbed his forehead warily. "Y'know, sometimes I _really_ don't know what to do with you." he said, eventually.

I scoffed at that. "_Do with me_?" I repeated. "Do I _look_ like a dog to you?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Don't answer that," I added hastily and he snorted. "Oi, no!" I said as he started to laugh. "This isn't funny! It's not because I don't like her, cause I … well ok, scrap that, I don't like her. Sorry, but I never have, don't think I ever will, but it's _not that_ – it's just the fact that it's _her_ …" I ran a hand through my hair, distractedly. "She's your _ex_. Isn't that _weird_?"

"She's my _best friend_, Rosie!"

"So?! Al's my best friend, but he's not _my_ ex!"

"You have no idea how relived I am to hear that."

I ignored that. "Look, I'm not being the bitchy, jealous girlfriend …" I trailed off. Oh, bloody hell I can't find any other words to describe me. Great! Turns out I _am_ the bitchy, jealous girlfriend!

"Could've fooled me." Scorpius muttered.

I groaned and smacked my head against the wall behind me. Stood in the tiny hallway to my front door, there wasn't much room for me to get away from him, but I did my damn well best. "Look, it's bad enough that she's on the same course as me!" I yelled. I remembered my ever-fateful first day of training quite plainly. She fit in perfectly with the vultures and didn't give any indication that we'd attempted to be civil during our final few years at Hogwarts; of course only because I was going out with one of her best mates. Now, it appeared that the gloves were off and we were going back to how we were before: bitchy and hostile. "Now I have to live in the same _building_ as her?"

"Rosie, she has a boyfriend!" Scorpius burst out, smacking his own head against the opposite wall. "Remember? Trevor Moyle? Was in our year? You used to go out with him? Remember that bloke?"

"But – hang on, I thought they broke up again?"

"Oh," Scorpius thought. "Yeah, they might have done. But in the end, you know it's always going to be Lucy and Trevor."

"Yes, yes, all right!" I huffed. "But that's not the sam–"

"How is that not the same?!"

"Cause I was thirteen when I went out with Trevor and I only did it to piss you off!" I yelled, gesturing wildly with my hands. "You actually _liked_ Harley; you even asked me for advice!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Right, so a crush I had when I was fourteen justifies you getting all pissed off at me for something I haven't even done?"

"Yes!"

Apparently the wall wasn't good enough for him. He ended up whacking his own head with his palm. "That's _it_! Rosie, YOU are my girlfriend, not Lucy!" he yelled, leaning away from the wall. "Her living across the hall isn't going to change that at all! Yes, she's my best friend, just like Al and Bea are your best mates, but that doesn't mean I'm going to dump you for her!"

"I _know_ that!"

"THEN WHY'RE YOU YELLING AT ME?!"

"I DON'T _KNOW_!" I roared back.

"Fine!" Scorpius drew himself up. "You want me to prove who I'm in love with?! FINE!" Within three seconds he had launched himself from the opposite side of the hallway, practically threw me against the wall and crushed his lips to mine.

Christ on a bike, if Bea came home right now …

I found myself not caring as I threw my arms around his neck. He seemed rather reluctant to remove his lips, so eventually I was the one who forced him away enough to mutter, "I'm sorry for being such a bitch to you – mmpft!" I got cut off as he forced his mouth back to mine.

"Shut it," he said against my lips, causing me to shudder slightly. "I'm proving a point, here."

"Prove away." I said back, grinning into his kiss.

Rose: 2, Scorpius: 2.

(Ah … crap).

* * *

(_Oh, Libby_)

(_I have insane friends_)

Since our block of flats only had three floors, it was rather common to see someone you knew going down to check the mail, drinking on the balcony or generally just yelling between front doors. Sure enough, as I clattered down the stairs onto the first floor, bleary-eyed and irritable as I headed to work, I heard Libby's voice cry, "Rosie! I take it you got the early-morning shift too?"

I just shot her a look. "Whoever decides to get hurt at six in the morning is an idiot," I said. "Why're you up?"

"Work as well!" Libby said brightly, practically skipping along beside me as we headed out the front doors and started down the street into the cool, London-morning air. Ugh, it was far too early for this. I don't know how the bloody weirdo, does it. Sure enough, Libby was wearing her dark green, _Café Julio_ t-shirt.

"Oh, right," I said, shaking my head. "Sorry, I haven't exactly woken up yet. I don't officially start functioning normally until I get my cup of tea."

"Like any good person," Libby answered. "Although, I must admit I've been severely deprived of my tea lately, considering Joan used up all the tea-bags the other day."

"I'm sorry, _Joan_?" I asked, wondering if that was the name of her new pet dog or something.

"My flatmate!" Libby said, as if it was obvious. Oh, of course. Libby goes through flatmates like tissues when you have a cold; she and Jo originally moved in together, but after living together for seven years at Hogwarts, they soon decided that they wanted to get away from each other for a bit. Jo now lives up on the third floor with Toby. I know, who the hell wants to live with their twin brother? Either way Libby, as we found out, simply couldn't hold down a flatmate to save her life; all the ones she found were either crazy or thought Libby was crazy.

"Ah, right," I said. "So … how did Joan end up using all the tea-bags in one go?"

Libby looked completely serious. "She had a tea-bath."

I blinked. "Sorry, a _tea-bath_? As in–?"

"–as in she drew a bath, put all the tea-bags in it and then had a bath in the tea? Yeah," Libby gave me a look as she paused before we crossed the street. "It's as weird as it sounds."

"You really do attract some humdingers, Lib."

"Got to make rent somehow!" Libby said, cheerfully. "Cursebreaker training doesn't pay itself!"

"So you're still doing it then?" I asked.

"Of course! I flipping love it," Libby said, grinning. "Just annoying how I have to go through several years of training before I can actually get paid as a cursebreaker."

"At least you get to go through all your training without worrying if you'll be kicked out after one week."

"You've survived so far, haven't you?" Libby asked.

"Well, I suppose it's been a month and I'm still in it, so yeah. Six people have been cut or chose to drop out already. Unfortunately not Harley."

"Merlin, is she still the bitch she was at Hogwarts?" Libby asked, snorting.

I sighed. "She wasn't bad sometimes, but now that she's joined the vultures, every time I see her I want to rip her head off. It doesn't help that she lives opposite Scorpius. Now I see her around the building, too!"

Libby shrugged. "Don't worry, I know how you feel!" she said as we reached an intersection. St Mungo's was further on, whereas the muggle café that Libby worked at was down a different block. "Y'know, to work with an idiot."

"Aw, working with James isn't that bad, is it?" I asked. I'd been rather amused when James came storming into the Burrow during a Weasley Sunday Lunch one week, complaining about one of the waitresses at his new job who kept flinging screwed up paper at him. Turns out, that had been Libby. Ah, James. Got high hopes for that boy.

Libby rolled her eyes, pausing on the edge of the street. "I know he's your cousin Rosie, but god he's stupid!" she said and I laughed. "Well, I've got to go, but I'll see you around! We're having a balcony party this Saturday, so if you're not working, you have to come!"

"Sounds great Lib, see you later."

I waved as Libby turned and skipped across the street, nearly running into a jogger and having to hastily give an apology. Ah, Libby. It was weird at first when I first moved in and kept seeing old Hogwarts mates, but now it just seemed natural. I couldn't imagine my life _without_ Libby, or Trevor, or even Harley in it.

Is that sad?

Rose: 2, Scorpius: 2.

(Neither of us really gets a point here. We're both mates with Libby, after all).

* * *

(_Sharing is caring_)

(_When does that become borderline-creepy?_)

"BALCONY PARTY! WOO-HOO!"

"_Wha_–?" I woke with a start, my text book, _A Thousand and One Healing Spells to Know_, flying to the floor with a loud thud. Rubbing my eyes, there was suddenly a lot of blond hair in my face and pain in my legs as someone jumped on top of me.

"C'mon, Rosie wake up!" Bea's excited voice came from where she was practically straddling me. "The Balcony Party has already started!"

"Oh, Merlin, is it eight already?" I asked, glancing at my watch as Bea made to hop off me and only succeeded in toppling over and onto the floor. I watched in amusement as she cried,

"WOE!" She shook her head slightly as Al and Scorpius entered our flat, Al looking concerned and Scorpius outright laughing. Bea checked her own watch. "Actually, it's nine thirty!" she said.

"Bea, are you drunk?" I asked, snorting with laughter.

"What? Noooooo, just a bit tipsy 's all!" Bea said, all with a huge grin on her face. Yeah, ok, she was definitely drunk. Bea hardly ever drinks, but when she does, she became the loudest, giggliest person in existence. Scorpius loved it when Bea cracked out the Firewhiskey, mainly because they could have a conversation where teasing each other was not only ok, but also encouraged.

Sure enough, Scorpius was the one who shot me a look before bending down and helping Bea to her feet, slinging an arm around her waist. "C'mon, Bea!" he said, cheerfully. "Al'll get Rosie, the party's waiting! I think I heard Libby starting up a game of 'Hands in the Middle' just before …"

"Brilliant!" Bea cried, completely forgetting about me and the two of them left the flat.

It was suddenly a lot quieter now that they'd left. I let Al help me haul myself to my feet. "Sorry I fell asleep," I told him. "I have to basically memorise that entire text book and it's the dullest thing in the world!"

"Doesn't help you've been awake since five this morning." Al added, giving a slight smile as we headed for the door.

I shrugged. "That too. How much has Bea had? I know she has just about zero tolerance for alcohol, but even for Bea, nine thirty isn't exactly pacing yourself!"

Al gave a sigh, which made me pull him to a halt. I gave him a look that plainly said, _tell me what's wrong_. Al always was the quiet one of the family and was never exactly skilled at expressing what he felt. Y'know, if the amount of time it took him to admit he fancied Bea was anything to go by. He wasn't normally skilled in the art of telepathic conversations, but Bea and I had had so many over the years, he'd eventually caught on to our every glance, so I knew that he knew exactly what I meant.

"Noth–"

"Oh, don't you _dare_ give me that crap," I said, looking him straight in the eye. "C'mon, I know something's up, I'm not your cousin for nothing," He was still silent, trying to avoid my gaze. Eventually I got sick of waiting and cracked out the big one. "I'll call you _Albus_ all night until you tell me …"

Al shot me a hard look. While he wasn't fiercely opposed to his full name like Bea was to _Beatrice_, he never was a huge fan of Albus. "Oh, fine," he eventually said. "But only because I know you'd beat it out of me anyway and you're Bea's best mate …"

"This is about Bea?" I asked, surprised.

Al nodded, leaning against our kitchen table. The dull thud of music could just be heard from the balcony at the end of our corridor, the one that overlooked the street and could house about twenty people. Balcony parties were a common occurrence and I had promised Libby that I would go this Saturday; though I didn't count on falling asleep halfway during studying.

"She's been having a bit of trouble at work," Al said, shrugging as I frowned. "Her boss just retired and the new one taking over has just started. Monica Dodge, only she's an absolute bitch who hates anyone who is lower down than her and for some reason, especially Bea."

"I'm sure she's just exaggerating–" I began, but Al was already shaking his head.

"I thought she was too!" he said. "But I went in one day to walk home with her and I arrived just in time to hear Dodge just screaming at her because apparently, she accidentally filed something incorrectly! The other journalists do that all the time and she wasn't screaming at any of _them_ …"

"Shit," I said, clutching my hair at the roots, something I found that I was doing rather often lately when I was worked up or stressed. I have no idea where I got it from, but this seemed like a hair-pull moment. "Is Bea not ok then?"

Al shook his head. "I don't think so," he said. "She _says_ she's fine and that it doesn't bother her, but the only reason she told me was because I overheard it. She wasn't planning on telling anyone, not even me or you!"

"That's not like her. Bea tells us everything, even the things we don't want to know." I pointed out, remembering all too vividly the time Bea had rambled about the time when she was five and got some sort of toe-fungus.

"Exactly. It's like she doesn't want this to get to her, because she seriously loves her job, despite it being at _Witch Weekly_," Al rolled his eyes. "She doesn't want to admit that Monica Bloody Dodge is upsetting her."

"Is that why she's hitting the booze a bit too hard?" I asked, still tugging at my hair nervously.

Al shrugged. "I suspect so. Yesterday was pretty rough, apparently. Wouldn't say anything about it, but she just fell into bed and started crying. You can't tell anyone about this, by the way," he quickly added and I snorted at the thought that I might. "She'd kill me if she knew I was telling even you and Scorpius!"

I glanced around in confusion. "Er, Al, it's just me here …"

Al rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but telling you basically equals telling Scorpius," he said. "You tell each other _everything_."

I opened my mouth to argue, but found that he had a point. Damn. "Fair enough," I said. Then I considered. "… is it _weird_ that we tell each other everything?"

"I dunno," Al shrugged. "Probably for some people. I mean, the four of us hardily keep any secrets, but there are even some things that I don't tell Bea, simply because they're blokey stuff and she'd kill me! But even though he gets punched by you for it, Scorpius still can't seem to keep his mouth shut around you."

"Oh, come off it," I scoffed, but Al just shot me a look. "Nah, we don't share _everything_–"

"Rosie," Al cut me off. "This morning he came home wearing your fluffy-duck slippers and complaining that you ate his toast. You share _everything_."

Damn. I didn't even realise, but now that Al's pointed out, I could see where he was coming from. It just seemed natural for us to share everything, even clothes and food. Sure, it'd often end in an argument, as seen with the aforementioned toast example, but we still kept doing it. I never even realised it was weird …

"Still," I said, letting go of my hair so I could tug Al towards the front door and the balcony party. "I'll look out for Bea. If she seems strangely depressed, I'll tell you."

"Thanks, Rosie," Al said, grinning as we headed for the party. The music was even louder out in the corridor and I could see the shapes of people laughing and moving about on the balcony. "You're a brilliant cousin. Have I ever told you that?"

"A few times," I said, smiling. "But it's ok, you can tell me again."

Al laughed, pulling open the door to the balcony. "I love you, Rosie," he said. "You're a brilliant best mate also."

"Love you, too," I said, slapping him on the arm. However, the sight of Bea sitting on a chilly-bin, clutching a bottle of Firewhiskey and chattering away happily to Jo made me frown slightly and clutch at my hair again. No one would've guessed that she'd been having a rough time and I wouldn't have either, despite being her best mate. However, now that I knew, I could just see the way her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

Al went over to her immediately and I called out a hello to Trevor as he waved, but that's when I spotted Scorpius, also keeping a close eye on Bea. What got me was that he also had his hand fisted in his hair as he frowned.

Oh _crap_, I knew I got that from _somewhere_.

"We really do share everything, don't we?" I asked the second I was in earshot.

Scorpius gave me a questioning look. "What're you on about?" he asked, letting go of his hair to lean against the balcony rails.

"Yesterday you borrowed my slippers!" I cried. "And I ate your toast! We don't keep any secrets, even the ones we really should keep! For two weeks when your flat flooded and you had to stay with us, we shared a bloody toothbrush, for god's sake! We even do the same hand-in-hair thing!" I demonstrated to prove my point.

Scorpius just blinked. "Er, did I do something to piss you off?" he asked, looking wary now. "Did I leave the lid off the butter again? I told you I'm sorry I keep doing that …"

"No, for once, the bloody butter-lid isn't what you've done wrong!" I said.

"Then what the hell're you harping on about?" Scorpius asked, irritated now.

"Oi, don't get mad at me–!"

"_You're_ the one who's mad at _me_!"

"Oh for Merlin's sake–! Look, never mind that," I said, hastily. "Bea's been having a rough time at work and that's why she's going off the rails. Al told me just now that she's been crying and stuff but refuses to talk about it, so just look after her, yeah?"

Scorpius looked slightly shocked, but said, "Of course I'll bloody look after her. I love her, just like I love you and Al. Even when you decide to go crazy and yell at me because I borrowed your slippers."

I smiled slightly at that. Even though Scorpius and Bea teased each other to no end, it was still obvious that they cared about each other. We stood together for a few moments, watching Al mutter something to Bea and she nodded, smiling in answer. Then, Scorpius turned back to me and said,

"… seriously, you're freaking out because we shared the same _toothbrush_?"

"Well, yeah!" I said as he snorted, throwing an arm around me. "I mean, a _toothbrush_, isn't that weird?"

"Rosie, we're the two weirdest people I know," he said. He then eyed Libby and Trevor apparently having a grape-toss competition, trying to catch the grapes in each other's mouths. "Or well, besides our mates," he added. "Sharing a toothbrush is nothing compared to them."

Hell, why does he always have to be the rational one?

Rose: 2, Scorpius: 3.

(One point. I can so catch up).

* * *

(_Letters from Lily_)

(_Once upon a time, LL did believe in true love …_)

Dear LL,

You're seriously asking me for relationship advice? _Me_? The girl who fell in love with the bloke she hated and went to her little cousin for help? I don't see how I could possibly help you, but I'll give it a go.

I'm going to be blunt here: there's a fine line between 'playing the field' and becoming a bit of a slag. LL, I love you, but this is what, the fourth boyfriend you've had this year? You're seventeen, for god's sake! I heard from Hugo that your last one survived all but two weeks. Is this because I'm no longer at Hogwarts to keep you in line anymore?

But either way, I'm not here to judge. This Ben sounds like a nice enough bloke and from the sounds of things, worships the ground you walk on, but I have to ask: do you actually fancy him? Because if this is just another way to prove to Mark that you're over him, then you need to tell Ben now before he gets in even more deeply. That's all the other two blokes were about, weren't they?

I know cheating sucks and that you probably still want to rip the bloke's guts out – seriously, I want to as well for doing that to you – but you can't just bounce from guy to guy. That's not what I'd call 'handling it'. I know you, little cousin, you did believe in true love at one point.

I asked Scorpius what he thinks, coz Merlin knows I'm probably just talking a load of shit here and let's face it, he's had more relationship experience than me, but he agrees with me. So I'm afraid you're out-numbered, LL!

Don't forget that I love you, cause I honesty do. Work is still scheduling me to start at five in the morning, so if I sound at all incoherent, it's probably because I'm half-asleep. We've all had a rough few weeks. Scorpius got into a fight with his dad over how he treats their house-elf (working with my mum is converting him, I swear). Al has been short on money recently and Bea's still got the boss from hell, but at least she's talking about it now. Be glad you're still at Hogwarts, LL! Even though I know the Easter holidays suck, the real world sucks more.

By the way, is it weird to share a toothbrush with someone?

I miss you heaps! I hope my 'advice' (for the want of a better word) has helped at all and I'll see you at Christmas.

Lots of love –

– Rosie. xox

* * *

Dear Rosie,

I chucked Ben. You're right, it wasn't fair on him and I didn't really fancy him at all. He'd just always been keen and I wanted to prove a point, but thanks for telling me to pull my head out of my arse. I needed that.

So Hugo's been telling you all my secrets, huh? I'll have to smack him one! Nah, I kind of expected you to find out through him, he is your brother after all. And since when were _you_ the one to keep us in line while you were at school? As I remember, it was _you_ who organised the yearly night-time Scavenger Hunt that nearly got us all expelled!

(Though I admit, those we're bloody brilliant. We tried to start up another one this year, but it wasn't the same).

I've decided that Mark isn't worth my time. If he wants to go and sleep with bloody Diana Mathews, I don't care! So long as he isn't still going out with me at the time. Blokes just aren't worth it! You're lucky you've got Scorpius, but what're you on about, 'more relationship experience than me'? You had one boyfriend before him and he had, what, two girlfriends before you? One of those was for like a week, I seriously don't think that counts as a 'relationship'!

I'm sorry your lives all suck at the moment, I hope things are going better now. I don't know whether it's because it's nearing the end of the year or not, but I seriously don't see the point in coming back to Hogwarts next year. I mean, I've got my OWLs and you can still get brilliant jobs without NEWTs! And besides, I'd love to just go travelling for a bit, see what's outside of England, y'know! But Mum would bloody kill me. So I suppose it's back for seventh-year, but I honestly don't see the point. Everyone else feels the same, so it's not just because of the shit year I've had either!

And as for sharing a toothbrush, I'm not surprised. You do everything else together anyway.

I miss you, too! I'll see you amazingly soon.

Love –

– LL. xx

Rose: 2, Scorpius: 4.

(Damn it, I was so close to winning the toothbrush-argument until now).

* * *

(_Note to self_)

(_Do not argue while cooking_).

"What the _hell_ is that?"

I paused in my chopping of the broccoli, turning to give Scorpius a look. "What?" I said. "It's broccoli!"

"I can see that," Scorpius said, eyeing it with distaste. "But why does it seem like you're going to put it in our stir-fry?"

"Because it tastes good?"

Scorpius scoffed as I simply went back to chopping up the broccoli. Al and Bea were out for the night, off having dinner at some restaurant that they rather liked, so it was up to Scorpius and I to make ourselves dinner. Considering we'd been surviving most of the year off food my Grandma Molly makes for me, we were trying to go for something simple.

Apparently, I'm not even doing _that_ right!

"Broccoli," Scorpius began. "is the foulest-tasting vegetable to ever be discovered."

"Oi! I like it!" I said, making it very clear that I was the one with the knife here.

Scorpius rolled his eyes, poking the pan that held the rest of our stir-fry with his wand. The oven underneath sparked red and the food crackled. "Well, of course you do." he muttered, poking the pan again a bit too hard.

"What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?" I asked, abandoning the broccoli for now and turning to face him, hands on hips. He winced slightly, but that was probably because I was still holding the knife.

"It means that you've always gone out of your way to like anything I hate!" he said. "Oh, and vice versa."

"I do _not_!"

Scorpius snorted. "Come on, you decided to fall in love with strawberries the _minute_ I told you I was jealous of anyone who ate them, because I was allergic," Scorpius pointed out. Behind him, the pan sparked again as I scowled. "And you hate _all_ of my favourite songs!"

"I did not just _decide_, I've always liked strawberries!" I said, smacking the knife back onto the bench in irritation. "And let's face it, Scorpius, _The Weird Sisters_ are _not_ a cool band. They were popular when our _parents_ were our age!"

"Well, you hate my hat!"

"Scorpius, a fluffy rabbit with ear-flaps does not count as a hat …"

"And you hate Shakeswotzit tragedies!" Scorpius yelled. "I mean, come on Rosie, _all_ of his plays were classics, not just the ones with happy endings!"

"Well, _sorry_ if I don't want to read a play in which only one person ends up surviving!" I yelled back, completely ignoring the stir-fry, now sizzling in the background, as Scorpius advanced on me. "Bloody hell, that's just depressing! I mean, hats off to the bloke for writing all of that, but _Romeo and Juliet_ could've ended so much better if Juliet had just flipping _told_ Romeo that she was going to pretend to die!" Scorpius didn't bother grace that with an answer, just scoffed and raised his hands in a defeated manor. "Besides, it goes both ways! You hate my favourite Muggle P.V. programme!"

"Rosie, a bloke with a box for a spaceship and flying around fighting aliens is not the basis of a good P.V. show …"

I rolled my eyes. Neither of us noticed the chopped up ingredients in the pan starting to turn black. "And for some reason, you actually _like_ singing in the shower! D'you realise how bloody _annoying_ that is?!" I added.

"At least _I_ can sing!"

"I'm sorry, _what_?"

"That's right! You can't sing!" Scorpius said, sounding triumphant.

"But …" I gaped at him for a moment. "You always said that you loved my voice!"

"Yeah, well, I was lying!" Scorpius said. "You sound horrible when you sing! It's like a cat being strangled!"

"I don't _believe_ you!" I yelled. For a few moments, I gabbled, trying to find something that would match this injustice, but all I could come up with was,

"_Well, you hate broccoli_!"

Even I heard the pathetic-ness of this statement and as Scorpius actually burst out laughing, I ended up giggling too. That was when he moved forward and suddenly kissed me, taking me off guard, but it was still great nonetheless. This continued for several moments as I wound my arms around his neck, not having a clue that the pan was emitting a lot of smoke. Suddenly–

BANG!

Scorpius and I yelled, pulling away from each other in shock as the blackened contents of the pan were splattered everywhere. I hid my face in Scorpius's chest and let him get the worst of it as sauce covered my hair and back. Eventually, we both glanced up to see my kitchen a complete mess.

"Ok, lesson learned." Scorpius said, shaking sauce off his sleeves.

Conclusion to my first year out of Hogwarts: 

-While an essential life-skill, none of us can actually cook to save our lives.

-The real world is bloody hard.

-Even though Hogwarts was a lot more convenient (clothes washed for you, rooms cleaned for you, food cooked for you, it's not a bad life!), the real world isn't actually too frightening.

-Just, y'know, avoid the vultures and don't be afraid to live life on the balcony.

Rose: 3, Scorpius: 4.

(Oh, come on, he's just as bad as me when it comes to cooking!)

* * *

A/N: Ok, so apparently, I have no idea how to write something SHORT anymore. I swear, not every chapter will be this long! I decided to follow the same format as GIR, so the first four chapters will summarise Rose's first four years living out of Hogwarts. The real story starts in 2028, during her fifth year out of Hogwarts when Rose is 22.

Thank you so much for your response so far! I'm glad that those lovely people who have reviewed have expressed their excitement for CGIR. Thanks again!

From now on, I will be going back to my old update system. Basically, I will do my best to update this story weekly on Saturday's (New Zealand Time). While I have practically written this story already, please bear in mind that I am a university student, currently on summer holiday. In February, I will go back to study and will have a part time job so from time to time, something unexpected will probably happen. Do not panic if a chapter doesn't arrive when it is supposed to.

Thank you for your patience and understanding! Remember, reviews are always appreciated. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	3. The Second One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, babies, Brazil or Christmas parties.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 2: The Second One.

(_My second year out of Hogwarts, 2025_).

(_Lily comes to me for relationship advice_)

(_The world has just imploded_).

"Rooooosie!"

"Flipping hell!" I cried, practically falling off my chair, clutching my chest in fright. "LL, don't _do_ that!"

"Sorry," My lovely as ever little cousin came tumbling out of the fireplace and into my lounge. "But you do know how much I love you."

I just scoffed, turning back to my studying at the table. "Y'know, one of these days you're going to floo in here and stumble across something you'd rather not see."

"Eh, I'll take my chances," Lily had shrugged, moving over to come plonk herself down onto my lap to peer at my notes. "What're you doing?"

"What are _you_ doing?" I asked her, giving up and chucking down my quill. "Aren't you meant to be in class?"

"Transfiguration, but who's taking notice?"

"Professor Cushing, if you don't watch out," I told her. "LL – come on, get off me – _Lily_!" I cried, since my cousin clearly wasn't listening. I shoved her off me and kicked the chair next to me. "Please, sit down on that if you must sit down at all! Chairs are made for sitting. You'll be fulfilling its purpose in life."

"You must be bored if you're thinking about the purposes in life for inanimate objects." Lily grinned.

I sighed. Lily was no longer that little thirteen year old who had become my conscience back in fifth-year. Now, she was an absolutely flipping gorgeous seventeen year old who thought that school was pointless. She didn't care about getting a 'proper' job, all she wanted to do was see the world. She had told me that she had tonnes of money saved up and that she'd been seriously considering leaving Hogwarts after Christmas this year. Since I'd already heard the goss from Auntie Ginny, I managed to convince Lily to stay for the time being, by reminding her of this year's Shakeswotzit performance, _King Lear_, which our younger cousin, Roxanne, was in. Lily was helping the class perform as a part of backstage and it was currently the only thing she saw worth in at Hogwarts.

I was having one of my rare days off work. Unfortunately, Scorpius _was_ working today, as were Bea and Al, so my morning had been rather dull, consisting of reading up on a complex healing I was supposed to assist on next week. I wouldn't say it out loud, lest I encourage her, but I was thankful for the distraction.

"LL, why are you here?" I asked her. "Not that I don't love you and want to see you, but you're skiving off class! Are you ok?"

"I'm _fine_," Lily insisted, almost cutting me off. "What're you studying?"

"Healing for a bloke who accidentally swallowed an umbrella," I said, quickly. "Now don't change the subject! What's going on?"

Lily seemed like she wanted to protest, but upon catching my eye, gave up. She gave an exasperated groan and slumped onto the table, hiding her face in her arms. "Oh, I give up, Rosie!" she mumbled. "I'm still in love with him."

"What?" I said, startled and I slammed my text book shut. "Who? Not that bloke who always stole chocolate éclairs from the kitchens for you–?"

"No! God, Rosie, who else d'you think?" Lily rolled her eyes. "Flipping Mark, of course."

"Oh," I wrinkled my nose in confusion. "Er, my memory may be a bit rusty, but didn't he cheat on you with your dormitory mate and then dump you in front of the whole castle at dinner?"

"Exactly!" Lily pointed at me. "See? He did all that, so for any normal person, he would be old news! Gone, out of my life forever! Yet, he _keeps coming back_ and I keep falling for him! It's a never ending cycle, Rosie, a dangerous one! I don't _want_ to love him …"

I sighed. How the hell to deal with this? "Er, LL, I may not be the best person to get relationship advice from," I pointed out. "I didn't want to fall in love either, but for me, it was the best thing that had ever happened to me."

"And for me, it's just a disaster!" Lily sighed. "Yeah, I get that. But surely you developed some way of handling it? If I could just get _away_ from him, I know that I'd be fine! I'd be finally over the bloody Mark-Fiasco, but he refuses to leave me alone!"

"He probably still loves you." I shrugged.

"Oh, that's just _brilliant_!" Lily threw up her hands in annoyance. "See? This is why I need to leave! Just get out of Hogwarts and not have to deal with any of this shit anymore! I want to see everything! I want to fall in love with the right person! Is that too much to ask?"

"No," I said. "When you're older and have actually _completed your education_. You're not going to get anything jet-setting around the world!"

"Ah, what d'_you_ know?" Lily waved a hand dismissively. "You got perfect exams scores and a boyfriend who would never cheat on you."

"Look, if I can't convince you that dropping out of Hogwarts is a bad idea, maybe I can try and give you some advice," I said. "Although, that being said, I was always horrible with relationship advice, since by normal standards, mine is a disaster waiting to happen …"

"I'll take anything at this point."

"Er, well, avoiding it didn't exactly work for me," I tried to think back to my ever-fateful fifth-year and the awkward months where I knew exactly how I felt and couldn't do a single thing about it. "Neither did snogging him and hoping for the best. The only thing that worked out well for me was punching his best friend and running away. That help?"

Lily stared at me for a moment. "… no, Rosie," she said, eventually. "No, that did not help."

"Well, what did you expect?!" I cried. "My crazy, screaming-match of a relationship actually works! Yours clearly doesn't, so what are you going to do about it, other than come running to your cousin?"

Lily just snorted and shook her head at me. "Ah, Merlin, I knew I came to you for a reason. I love you, Rosie."

"Love you, too," I said. "So, come on, what's it going to be?"

"Bash him over the head with a broomstick?"

I thought. "All things considered, it's not bad. Can I help?"

Rose: 4, Scorpius 4.

(C'mon, the day arrived where Lily needed _my_ help. That's _got_ to be a point).

* * *

(_If you happen to be pregnant and on the verge of giving birth_)

(_Please don't come anywhere near me_).

"Gerald!" I called, darting through the waiting room quickly to reach my friend's side.

Gerald paused and grinned when he saw me. "Ah, if it isn't Rosie here to brighten my day!" he said. "What shift are you working?"

"Till midnight."

"_What_?" Gerald looked shocked. "But it's ten in the morning! That's like, ten hours! And we never manage to leave our shifts on time …"

"Yeah, I've gotten pretty used to no sleep!" I said, practically jumping up and down on the balls of my feet.

"Yeah, you look like you've inhaled about three tonnes of caffeine," Gerald pointed out. "How much tea have you drunk?"

"Oh, no, I hit the hard stuff this morning!" I said. "Coffee, no milk! It was disgusting, but if I want to survive, I've got to do all I can! What's your shift?"

"I'm only here until nine tonight," Gerald said as he held the employee door open for me behind the main reception desk and we made our way to the trainee staff room. "Just so long as you don't fall asleep in a broom cupboard again on your break …"

I rolled my eyes. "Honestly, I only closed my eyes for about a second."

Gerald shook his head at me, his sandy hair in need of a cut since it flew everywhere. Gerald had proved to be a brilliant friend ever since we'd both made it as trainee healers. Since he'd done a bit of the training before, he and his friend, Ally, had turned out to be absolutely amazing and we'd spent many nights studying together. Gerald and Ally had both been cut from the programme last year, so this was their second attempt. Since we'd all managed to last this long together, we seemed to have made a sort of alliance. They were common in the training programme, since our course was so competitive. From the original thirty who made the cut, over the first year eight people had either dropped out or been kicked out. Surprisingly, none of them had been vultures, the evil bitches who thought they were better than everyone else because their daddies were rich and donated regularly to the hospital. We now had several groups who had banded together, trying to help each other out and trying not to think about the day three years from now when the gloves would come off and we'd be fighting each other for our jobs.

Gerald, Ally and I were the smallest group and everyone had thought we'd be cut within the first week. But when we'd survived, a lot of the others had given us second thoughts. As a result, I'd discovered that a lot of the trainees were actually really nice and were perfect allies.

One of them, Sarah, was standing on a chair when Gerald and I reached the staff room specifically for the trainees ('cause, y'know, we weren't cool enough to go in the actual staff room for the 'real' Healers. Pfft). The second she saw us, she nearly fell off her chair. "New cycles are out!" she cried.

Sure enough, everyone who was in the staff room was crowded around the notice board, several like Sarah having to stand on chairs to levitate over the others to see. The notice board held notices for everything, including our shifts for the next two weeks, upcoming training, text books for sales and, of course, our scheduled area.

Every eight weeks, we would be assigned to work in a new area of the hospital. Our bosses called them 'cycles' and it was apparently so we could experience every part of St Mungo's and discover our speciality. Unfortunately, that meant if you got an area that you knew you didn't like, you had to suffer it for two months until the next cycle. Our current cycle was almost at an end and I had loved working in the emergency department of Spell Damage. The assortment of problems I'd come across were, quite frankly, hilarious and my assigned Healer supervisor who assessed and trained me had been the loveliest person I'd ever met.

"For god's sake, I'm on diseases again!" Callum was complaining to Margo. "That's the third cycle in a row! I swear, I'm complaining!"

"I wouldn't do that, mate," Gerald pointed out. "Healer O'Satan is in charge of where we're put. She doesn't like trainees very much."

"She doesn't like _anyone_ very much." Callum grumbled.

"Yes!" cried a voice I knew well and Ally wiggled her way out of the mass of people to join us. Ally was small and thin, so I was surprised that she hadn't been simply trampled by the crowd. "Oh, hey! Guess what? I'm on the ground floor, emergency accidents!"

"Lucky bitch!" Margo called.

"What?" Ally looked confused. With her long, brown hair and bright blue eyes, Ally was absolutely gorgeous, but she failed to notice. Shy and nervous around new people, she spent so much of her time curled up behind books and her job that she almost had no friends at all. The only reason she felt comfortable enough to talk to Gerald and I was because a) she knew Gerald from her first attempt at training and b) when Gerald introduced me, I had insisted she tell me where she had gotten her signed copy of _Pick up a broom and fly away_, my favourite wizarding play. The second we'd realised that we were both fans, we pretty much became instant friends.

"Oh, c'mon," I nudged her side. "Emergency accidents? You get Healer Hot Arse as your supervisor!"

"Oh," Ally went bright boiling scarlet. "I … I hadn't noticed …"

I sniggered. "Of course you didn't. You didn't happen to see my name, did you?"

"To be honest, I just wanted to get out of there." Ally said. Trying not to laugh, I left Ally with Gerald to brave the crowd and dive in to see where I had ended up.

"Healer Williams is in emergency accidents, too, isn't he?" I asked Daniel, the closest person to me as I squirmed up to the board.

"Yeah, you might be happy about an attractive supervisor," Daniel rolled his eyes. "But you also get Healer Williams as head of department! I don't know why on earth Ally's happy about it, I'd be nervous as hell! So glad I'm on the third floor …"

"Brown … Gerald! You're in in mind-related spell damage!" I called out over the heads.

"Aw, great," I heard Gerald say. "I get all the nutcases who don't know who they are …"

"Wan … Waring …" I muttered under my breath. "Geez, Ben's on potion mixing again? He's not going to like that – hang on," I cut myself off with a frown when I finally noticed my name. "Antenatal? That's the Maternity ward, isn't it?"

"_That's_ where you ended up?" Sarah peered over the heads from her position on the chair. I double-checked my name. Sure enough, I was scheduled on the ground floor, to follow the Healer equivalents of midwives around, preparing coffee for poor, abused husbands and–

"Oh, _shit_," I said. "I have to actually deliver a baby, don't I?"

"Oh, it's nothing," came a snide voice that I usually ignored. I pushed my way out of the crowd to see that the wonderful Lucy Harley had shown up. She nudged Ally out of the way, causing the girl to be shoved into Gerald. I could have hit her, but I'd promised Scorpius quite a few years ago that I wouldn't do that again. "That's where I was last cycle. Was a piece of cake _and_ I delivered twins."

I never thought I would see the day when I would hang on to every word Harley had to say, but it's arrived. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. "You're _kidding_ me," I said, wincing at the thought. "Surely they show you how to do it first?"

"Oh, if you _need_ it," Harley smirked. "Healer Sharpe called me a natural, though! Not entirely sure what she'd call you, to be honest."

"Oh, _shut up_." I pushed my way past her as violently as I could without actually hitting her. As I stalked past to Gerald and Ally, I caught Harley flicking her hair out of the corner of my eye.

_Seriously_? She still sees the need to do that?

"Calm down, Rosie!" Gerald squeezed my shoulder. "You've got, what, a bazillion cousins, don't you? Surely you remember some of them being born?"

The last baby I had handled was when Roxanne, my youngest cousin, had been born. I was three years old and apparently, I had been banned from touching her after five minutes. Auntie Angelina still won't tell me what I did to her, but I'd always thought I'd be horrible with babies ever since.

"Yeah, of course," I said with a shrug. "If Harley can do it, then I can. Piece of cake!"

* * *

As it turns out, it was _not_ a piece of cake.

Healer Sharpe was a lovely woman, yet she'd clearly been doing this for quite some time. She was rather impatient when she had to repeat instructions and always expected me to understand something the first time round. When it came to actually delivering my first baby, there had been nothing but blood, sweat, tears and screaming, and I _don't_ mean from the mother.

"Support its head, Healer Weasley!" Healer Sharpe had insisted for about the fifth time in a row. Honestly, like I was going to be doing anything else!

"I am!" I had cried back.

"What's going on?!" the poor woman had cried. It had been Nancy Wood's first baby and I still wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing. On the up side, she would have no idea if I was doing something wrong. On the down side, I may accidentally traumatise her for life and she may never want kids ever again.

"Everything's fine, Mrs Wood," I had ground out, my head swimming by this stage and frustrated tears pouring down my face. Every time Healer Sharpe had yelled at me, every time Mrs Wood had screamed and every time Mr Wood cried out whenever his wife crushed his hand, my head would give a throbbing stab. "Now on the count of three, I want you to push again–"

Mrs Wood had nodded faintly and I'd almost thought that I'd gotten things under control, when Healer Sharpe decided to get her two cents in.

"Healer Weasley, you're going to break the baby's neck if you keep doing it like that!" she'd cried. "I said _support_ it! Not–"

"What's wrong with my baby's neck?!" Mrs Wood had screamed.

"Nothing!" I had tried to yell back, but the screaming, the intensity, the pressure of trying to keep everything together finally got to me. With one instant dagger of pain to my head I had keeled over and passed out cold on the floor.

Naturally, I only just passed my cycle in the antenatal ward.

"You … passed out?" Scorpius had almost pissed himself laughing when he'd been called at work to come take me home.

"I had a splitting headache from all the screaming! I was about ready to commit murder when everything just went black! Apparently, Healer Sharpe delivered a perfectly healthy baby, but she told me that Mr and Mrs Wood have had me banned from their ward completely!"

"Oh, Rosie …" Scorpius had paused on the street, outside the entrance to the magical hospital. Apparently he'd been given quite a fright at work when my boss, Healer Williams, had flooed him as my emergency contact to come take me home from work early. He'd barrelled down here, expecting me to only have one limb or something. Apparently, the real story was much funnier.

"I know, Healer Sharpe is going to fail me and I'm never going to be a full Healer!" I moaned, collapsing into his arms and hiding my face in his shirt.

"Aw, look," Scorpius tried to placate me. "That was _one_ delivery, your first no less. Healer Sharpe has probably delivered a hundred babies this year alone! She just expected too much of you. You're not going to fail and you _will_ be a Healer one day."

"You really think so?" I mumbled into his chest.

"Well," Scorpius shrugged. "So long as you never go near the antenatal ward again, you'll be fine. I'll make a personal request that Healer Sharpe never delivers any baby of ours!" His laugh quickly died when it clicked into his brain what he'd just said. I pulled away, staring.

_Oh_, the awkward …

"Erm … I mean, not that … uh …"

"Yeah, um …" I tried desperately to look anywhere but at him. I felt my neck go bright red. "Let's – let's just go home, yeah?"

"Yeah …" Scorpius said, looking grateful for the distraction. I almost would have said he was blushing, but Scorpius just doesn't _do_ blushing. I think it's physically impossible for him. Unfortunately not for me, though. I could have sworn it was spreading up my neck to my face.

God, that comment was _so_ going to come back and bite me on the arse.

Rose: 5, Scorpius: 4.

(I screwed up the beginning of a baby's life. He screwed up 'the talk'. That is worse in so many ways).

* * *

(_Best. Christmas_)

(_EVER_).

"Good god, Libby Fletcher doesn't do things halfway …"

Scorpius snorted. "You're _just_ realising that?"

Her entire flat was packed with people. Half of them I didn't even know. Some I vaguely recognised as living in the building, or were her Cursebreaker friends. Some were complete strangers and it made me clutch Scorpius's hand just that bit tighter so as not to lose him in the crowd. I don't think Libby particularly cared if they were known or not. In her eyes, if they were wearing a Christmas hat and getting merry, then she was definitely happy!

I was just surprised that I actually managed to get off work. It was a Weasley-family tradition every Christmas to basically get every single member of the family packed into one house; it normally ends in at least one person at the hospital, so I figured that even if I _was_ working Christmas Day, it was highly likely that I'd still see my family anyway. But as it turns out, it was usually the fifth-year trainees who were forced to work Christmas Day. Apparently, they do it because they're so desperate to get a place at that point, that they'll do anything to get into the boss's good books. The second I found that out, I swore to myself I'd _never_ be that desperate.

So very long story short, here I was, Christmas Eve, watching my mates get drunk while singing _Snoopy's Christmas_. Just another normal day for Rose Weasley.

"I swear, we're going to get a noise-warning soon!" I yelled over the Christmas carols that were blasting out of the wireless, trying to pull Scorpius through to where we could possibly find someone we knew.

"It could be worse!" Scorpius said. We were forced into a corner thanks to the shear amount of people and Scorpius moved to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. Yeah, I wasn't really complaining. "Someone could be getting Trevor drunk–"

"DID SOMEONE SAY TREVOR?!"

"Oh, hell–" Scorpius muttered as the loud voice boomed and arms shot out of nowhere, throwing himself at Scorpius and I in a huge hug that nearly knocked us flat.

"Hey, Trev! Merry Christmas!" I managed to get out, laughing.

Trevor continued to hug us, grinning as usual. While we still managed to see each other every now and then, it wasn't as often as I liked and I was glad to find that he was still the same as ever. I could barely even remember the fact that Trevor and I had once gone out; he was far too much like an older brother that the memory seemed faintly gross.

"Merry Christmas, my Rosie!" Trevor said, thankfully letting us go. For some bizarre reason, he was wearing two party hats over his brown hair with tinsel wrapped around them and was holding a bottle of Firewhiskey in each hand.

"What was that you said about getting Trevor drunk?" I put in.

"Bitch, please," Trevor said, snorting with laughter. "No one needs to get me drunk; Trevor Moyle gets _himself_ drunk!"

"Oh, I did _not_ just hear that …" came the unmistakable voice of Lucy Harley's and I suppressed an inward groan.

She greeted us warmly enough; well, she greeted Scorpius warmly with a huge hug. She just gave me a half-hearted wave for his sake. In answer, I suppressed rolling my eyes. Ok, we've tried getting over our differences, we honestly, truly have … it just hasn't worked! I mean, the last time we came face to face, she had almost laughed herself into a coma because I had accidentally passed out while delivering a baby! As she moved to chat to Scorpius, I found myself throwing an arm around his waist, just to remind her whose boyfriend he actually was.

It was completely irrational, since I assumed that she was still currently going out with Trevor, but I couldn't help it! Lucy Harley just brings out irrational-Rose! I mean, Scorpius says there's no difference between irrational-Rose and normal-Rose, but I beg to differ.

I wasn't paying the conversation any attention. I barely even noticed the wild party going on around us. I knew better than to look for Al and Bea; my charming cousin had managed to knock off work early and the blokes from his department took him out for 'Christmas drinks' around five this evening. Naturally, he was bloody plastered before he even got to the party and had practically attacked his girlfriend the second she'd walked in the door. Last I saw, they were snogging for England in the kitchen, so I hoped like hell that they had at least moved the chips and dip so they weren't going at it over the food.

No, I didn't even care. My attention was completely fixated on Scorpius.

I hadn't failed to notice how touchy-feely he'd been recently. I mean, it's not like we were like Mr and Mrs PDA in the kitchen, though we'd never been opposed to a kiss or two in public. No, it was just recently (or, ok, ever since that fateful comment about babies outside the entrance to St Mungo's a few weeks ago) I found that we couldn't seem to go anywhere without each other. We constantly found excuses to stand close, touch or just outright kiss for the hell of it. Even as he continued to talk to Trevor and Harley, I kept my arm around his waist and he played with my fingers. It was completely irrational.

Then there was _the look_. The one he would give me sometimes where I would shudder and be surprised when I didn't spontaneously combust. It was like I was a very big, very tempting piece of chocolate cake that he wasn't allowed to eat. Every time I saw it, my neck would go bright red and I'd get so nervous that I felt like I needed a drink to calm myself down.

Hell, even thinking about it made my entire head feel like it was going to explode. Before that could happen, I retracted my arm and muttered, "Hey, I'm just going to go talk to Libby …"

Scorpius pretty much just broke off the conversation mid-sentence to stare at me.

"D'you have to?" he practically whined.

"Piss off, we've got the whole night! I'll be back soon!" I snapped. Yeah, definitely irrational. I had intended on just saying I was leaving and buggering off before he set me on fire, but Scorpius apparently had different ideas. As I turned to leave, he tugged on my arm and pulled me back, taking me off guard and kissing me deeply for several moments. Trevor just cat-called and when he finally let me pull back, I nearly forgot how to use my legs.

Holy buggering arseholes, I need a drink!

"Cracking Christmas, Rosie!" Libby cried, happily when I called out to her. It was clear that she was completely trolleyed as she hugged me tightly, her fairy-lights necklace accidentally getting caught in my hair.

"Love the party, you out-do yourself every year!" I told her, untangling her flashing necklace.

Libby grinned as she offered me a Firewhiskey. Thank _bloody_ god; I practically downed the entire thing in one go and I winced at the burning in my throat. Libby watched in amusement.

"You all right?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Bloody spectacular."

I was surprised that she'd even noticed something was off. Drunk-Libby wasn't exactly what you could call observant-Libby. However, she was looking concerned, despite the giant Father Christmas hat. "Rosie, your entire face is red and you just downed an entire Firewhiskey! I know you, you only drink this heavily if you're nervous!"

"It's nothing!" I gabbled, already feeling slightly better despite my head swimming a bit. Damn, I really should find a better outlet than alcohol. "I mean, Scorpius is driving me bloody mad since he won't keep his hands off me, but other than that, life is fantastic!"

Libby snorted, taking a gulp of her own drink. "Is that all?" she said. "I was expecting something like you have to take a knitting class with his mother or you have to sit in on a very complex healing at work!"

"Oh, _shit_. That reminds me that I have to spend a bit of Christmas day at the Malfoy's …" I said, locating another drink off a stray passer-by. I wrenched it open, taking the biggest gulp I could without choking.

"You, Scorpius and the Malfoy's?" Libby said. "Bloody hell, that's a disaster waiting to happen, isn't it?"

"It's already happened, I had to spend New Year's with them last year!" I said.

"Oh, of course, the house-elf incident! Has Mrs Malfoy actually forgiven you for that, yet?"

I rolled my eyes. "Scorpius says she has, but then again, he'll tell me anything these days."

"Yeah, well, the bloke's mad for you, isn't he?" Libby pointed out. "Besides, I'm surprised that the two of you are still here! The way he's staring at you, hasn't he tried to drag you back to your cave yet?"

"Our what?" I asked. Obviously I've consumed a bit too much alcohol for my mind to handle, because Libby is clearly not making sense.

"Your cave!" she elaborated. Mmm, no still not ringing any bells. "Oh, come on, it's obvious he's begging for it!"

"For _what_?"

Libby just gave me an '_are you for bloody real?_' look before snorting with laughter. "Oh, never mind. Just go off and shag already, everybody else is. Actually walked in on Al and Bea copping off in the kitchen. Scarred me for life too, tha – Rosie?!" She had cut herself off, since at the mention of the s-word, I'd inhaled half of my Firewhiskey and started choking.

"_J-j-just go off and shag_?" I managed to gasp out, eyes watering.

"Holy shit, I didn't mean for you to choke yourself to death!" Libby cried. "Scorpius might just kill me if I did that!"

"I'm bloody serious Libby, what d'you mean by saying _that_?"

"What?" She seemed genuinely confused. "Oh, come on, we're nineteen years old, don't tell me you still can't even _talk_ about sex?"

I didn't think it was possible for my neck to go even redder, but I've somehow managed it. Sex had _always_ been a topic I was uncomfortable with, especially at Hogwarts. During our later years, the girls in our dormitory had frequently broken out into conversations/bitch sessions about who was sleeping to whom, often ending in lengthy analysis of the blokes they had slept with. I'd never felt the need to participate in such conversations, mainly because my experience in that department was next to none and also because talking about sex often led to me thinking about sex, which again led to thinking about Scorpius.

And that was just a flipping dangerous road.

"Lib, not that I think you're a slut or anything, but you always have had more experience in that department than I have …"

Libby waved a hand. "Rosie, it's basic maths! You've got nothing on me; I've only slept with, what, three people my entire life? Only one of those people was more than once! You might have only been with one person, but you've been together for, like, three years! That's a _long_ time, girl …"

Oh, just brilliant. My head had officially run out of skin to turn red, so now it travelled down my chest. "Libby, Scorpius and I haven't … I mean, we've never … erm …"

I made a vague hand gesture and left her to fill in the blanks. It didn't take her very long.

"Oh, _shit_!" she said, eyes wide. "I'm so sorry Rosie, I just assumed … _hell_! Geez, no wonder he's looking like he wants to eat you!"

"Oh, come off it." I said, shoving her shoulder. Libby only grinned as she pointed across the crowded room.

"Ah, don't knock it till you've seen it," she said. She grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to turn and see indeed that Scorpius had his eyes on me with the same intense look I've been seeing the past few weeks. "That is definitely the expression of a bloke who wants sex, trust me."

"I …" My mouth went completely dry and I found myself drinking more Firewhiskey.

It's not as if I hadn't _thought_ about it … quite the opposite in fact. It's just, we were _sixteen_ when we started going out, it was kind of expected that we wait until we were a bit older … while I knew that most of my class mates had lost their virginities while still at Hogwarts, I'd never seen the need to and as far as I was aware, Scorpius hadn't either, considering that we'd had _that_ awkward conversation near the beginning of seventh-year. We'd been bickering all day and during our usual make-up snog, I'd had some sort of brain malfunction and randomly blurted out that I wasn't ready for sex yet. Scorpius had clearly been surprised at the announcement, but had admitted that he wasn't either. And that had been the end of it.

Until now, apparently.

To be honest, if we were any normal couple, we might have actually crossed this point ages ago. But let's face it, we were Rose and Scorpius; we were anything but normal! If it hadn't been for our wonderful quirky talent of _never_ talking about anything remotely important in our relationship, I might not be standing here having this embarrassing conversation with Libby! But _no_, we were far too awkward for our own good.

"Don't tell me that you don't _want_ to?" Libby was saying, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, I know he's yours and that he can be a bit of a prick sometimes, but he's flipping hot, you can't deny that …"

"No …" I muttered, our eyes still connected. He was still talking to Harley and Trevor, but he wasn't even turned in their direction.

Libby just squeezed my shoulders and I turned to see her smiling at me. "Rosie, you're in love with him, right?"

I sighed. "Have been since I was fifteen."

"Then I say just go for it!" Libby said, leaning to hug me from behind, leaning on my shoulders. "Obviously you don't have to, you could wait until you're married for all I care, but the choice is yours."

"I … thanks, Lib."

"No problem!" she said, happily. Then, she let go and gave me a slight shove in the back to get me moving. "Go, have fun! _But be safe_!" she yelled after me, causing several people to glance around. Oh, bloody typical. "AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

Sometimes I really wondered why I was still mates with Libby Fletcher. Then we have a moment like _that_ and I remember. Oh, shit, my brain is still fried! Does this need more alcohol? No, no Rosie, you're nervous enough as it is. I did _not_ want to add to my overwhelming desire to have to pee.

Oh, pull yourself together. I really do worry about myself sometimes.

Scorpius straightened as I aimed straight for him as directly as I could, weaving my way through the party-goers. I hadn't even noticed what he was wearing when we'd left the flat, but suddenly, jeans, a red t-shirt and a Father Christmas hat was starting to look like the sexiest thing in the universe.

"Get out of here?" I asked breathlessly, the second I was within earshot.

Scorpius grinned. "Thank bloody god."

We never did make it back to the party.

Rose: 6, Scorpius: 4.

(I totally had the upper hand. He was putty in my hands once we got home).

* * *

(_Bea, stop punching people_)

(_You're making me lose bets_).

"I'm going to _kill_ my boss." Libby announced, collapsing into the seat next to me.

"What, Aurora?" I said, shocked. "But she's so lovely!"

Libby just rolled her eyes at me. "Not bloody Aurora, she's the sweetest girl in the universe! Who d'you _think_?" she asked. My brain clicked.

"Oh. Creepy Howard still creepy, then?"

"He clearly got dropped on the head as a baby!" Libby threw up her hands, narrowly missing my nose. "Which must have been about fifty years ago! I think he's hit on me about five times every shift we have together! I've actually put in a request to change my hours, I don't think I can take much more of it …"

I almost considered laughing at Libby, but then remembered that I was supposed to be the supportive friend here, so instead I rubbed her back lightly where she was slumped over our table. We were currently in the hip-happening Leaky Cauldron, awaiting a rare night when none of us were working and planning to just hang out and catch up. It had been months since all of us had gotten together like this and when I say 'all of us', I mean the majority of magical people who lived in our flat building. Scorpius and Al were currently at the bar, ordering drinks from the lovely landlady, Hannah, and we were still waiting on Bea from her work's late-night printing. Trevor and Harley had said that they were planning on dropping by and Toby and Jo were apparently on their way.

My mates really were all sensationally mad, but then that's why I loved them. It was probably also why I was friends with them, too, now that I come to think about it.

"I'm sure it'll be fine …" I was saying to Libby, also sure that my words probably weren't really having an effect. Sure enough, Libby just ploughed on like she hadn't heard me.

"All I care about is serving coffee until I get through my Cursebreaker training!" she cried. "I've only got the rest of the year to go! I don't want some pervert checking me out every time I bend down to get more coffee beans from the cupboard! What if he won't change my hours? What do I do?!"

"I dunno, Lib, what if I got James to have a word with him?" I asked.

"Rosie, my brother is the densest person I know," Al put in, him and Scorpius joining us at our table. "I can tell you now, he's not going to be _any_ help. You know what you need to do?" Al addressed Libby now. "You need to do something drastic! Bloke's like Creepy Howard won't give up unless you go all out at saying no."

"Well, drastic like what?" Libby asked.

Al shrugged, handing her a drink. Libby downed it in several gulps, not even bothering to ask what it was. "I dunno, skip the country? Say you want to be a bloke? Get married? That tends to turn off most blokes …"

"Oh, good god." Libby hid her face in her arms.

Luckily, she didn't have to face our laughter, since that was when Bea arrived, storming into the pub in a flurry of leaves from the howling wind outside. She looked absolutely frozen, shivering in her coat and for some reason, absolutely livid.

"Erm, hello–?" I began.

"I HATE HER!" Bea practically screamed, slamming her bag onto the table and, upon seeing no chairs left, throwing herself down onto Al's lap. My cousin yelped slightly at the sudden weight, but thankfully knew better than to comment. He just rubbed Bea's arms and asked,

"Um, bad day?"

"Yeah, get this!" Bea said, looking around at all of us. "It's printing night, so everything is due in by nine so we can start printing for the morning and there's always a _million_ things to do. I just have one conclusion to go and BAM! Fifteen minutes until nine, Dodge goes and throws another million 'agony witch's at me and says I have to have them all done by that night's deadline! Then, _even better_, she buggers off early to go drinking with her mates! I was working up until the last second and the second I sent them off, of course I noticed about a thousand typing mistakes in them. I knew if Dodge saw it, she would probably fire me on the spot, so I ended up holding up the entire printing line to try and fix them! There's going to be a delay in delivery tomorrow morning and Dodge is probably going to blame it all on me! God, I HATE HER!"

"… so yes, you've had a reasonably bad day." Al said, weakly.

"Here," Scorpius handed Bea a drink and much like Libby, she downed it in one go. Geez, there's no holding back tonight! "I think you … um, need that … er," Scorpius added, once Bea slammed the glass back down onto the table and snatched Al's drink straight out of his hand. "D'you reckon you should be drinking that quickly?"

"Yes, I reckon so!" Bea insisted, downing Al's drink too. The poor boy looked so shocked, he didn't seem to know how to react. "I swear, if I saw her right now, I'd give her one hell of a–"

"Hey!" Libby called out, pointing to over at the bar. "Isn't that her?"

The five of us all span our heads to see the tall, glamorous-looking woman, sitting on a stool at the bar and flirting with one of the male bartenders. She had long, brown hair pulled back in a bun and that certain look about her which clearly said she thought that she was better than everyone else. I'd met the woman once, when dropping off some lunch to Bea on my break at work and she'd practically chewed my head off for accidentally knocking over a stack of crosswords.

"That's her!" Bea cried.

"Oh, god." Al said.

"Ten Galleons says she physically abuses her in some way." Scorpius said at once, turning to me.

"Oh, you're on!" I said, shaking his hand.

Al was unfortunately too slow in stopping Bea in leaping out of his lap and she was suddenly storming straight over to Monica Dodge, also more commonly known as the boss from hell. Al, Scorpius, Libby and I all dove after her, but with so many people, we were held back for too long. By the time we finally reached the bar, it was to see Bea slam her fist straight into Dodge's face.

Several people gasped as Dodge cried out, practically falling off her stool as she clutched at her face. Libby tried and failed to stifle her laugh as Al stormed forward hastily and yanked Beak back, roughly. Scorpius and I just exchanged looks.

"I will _not_ take any more shit from you!" Bea was yelling at Dodge, struggling in Al's arm. "You can just go find someone else to bully, because I'm not having it!"

"If – if you think you're coming into work on Monday–!" Dodge began.

"EXCUSE ME!" a loud booming voice suddenly dominated the small ring of people who had currently surrounded our dramatic scene. Hannah, the landlady, came storming up to us from around the bar. "I will NOT have _brawling_ like common Muggles of ANY sort in my pub! Now GET OUT, ALL OF YOU!"

We were all thrown out of the pub, hastily having to chuck on our coats and wrap on scarfs outside in the doorway, trying to hide from the bitter wind. Because of our 'association', Al, Scorpius, Libby and I had all been kicked out with Bea, along with Dodge and several of her friends, who were currently supporting her like she'd gotten a broken leg, instead of just a measly punch to the face.

Determined to talk Bea's way out of this, Al had trusted Scorpius to restrain Bea and to get her to shut up while he spoke to Dodge. While Libby tried to get Bea to stop yelling in the dark, Muggle street, I just folded my arms against the cold and rolled my eyes at Scorpius's grin.

"Oh, come on," I said. "Bea's normally the sweetest girl in the world. How was I to know?"

"I'm just realising that you'd think you'd have learnt not to take bets against me by now." Scorpius said.

"This close, mate," I told him, holding up an almost-touching thumb and forefinger. "_This close_."

Rose: 6, Scorpius: 5.

(I swear, one of these days, I _will_ win a bet against him!).

* * *

(_I told her_)

(_One of these days, she's going to see something she doesn't like_)

"Oh my god, I'm BORED!" I screamed, my voice echoing around the empty flat. I didn't get an answer, only the rain pounding against the window and the whistle of the teapot in the kitchen boiling.

I don't know why I was surprised. There's no one home, after all.

I considered being lazy and simply summoning the teapot over to where I was currently slumped down on the sofa underneath a million fluffy blankets, but I _really_ needed a break from studying. Reluctantly, I hauled myself up, throwing my text book onto the ground, hardly caring if I accidentally trod on it later and hurried to make myself a cup of tea. I'd been attempting to read up on severing charms that I would need as assistant in a healing tomorrow, but I'd gotten about as far as 'First, make sure the patient is completely unconscious before proceeding …' when I started daydreaming. I mean, I really wanted to help senior Healer Pallenson remove the plastic pineapples from Mr Benson's intestines, but did the preparation for it have to be so boring?

My face felt bright red from being so warm under the blankets and my hair probably looked like it was standing on end, however, I hardly cared. It's not as if anyone ever comes here, anyway. What with our insane work schedules, for the last week Scorpius had been working whenever I wasn't and vice versa. The last time I actually saw him was three days ago when our schedules allowed us to cross over for one hour, yet we were too tired to actually do anything, so we just ended up falling asleep.

Bea was _supposed_ to be coming home after work, but most likely she would go to Al's. Was my life honestly this sad?

The front door suddenly opening almost made me spill my tea. My insides went nuts to see Scorpius trudge through the door, trekking snow everywhere and dumping his bag in the middle of the floor like he owned the place. I had half a mind to yell at him to move it to somewhere Bea or I wouldn't trip over it, but to be honest, I was much too excited to see just another human being.

"Scorpius!" I cried. "What the hell're you doing here?!"

"Oh, Rosie!" he said, grinning when he noticed that I was indeed here. "I finished early, so they sent me home! No one was at mine and Al's place, so I came here."

"You actually finished that monster of a report?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. For the past few weeks, Scorpius had been spending every waking hour at his office in the Muggle Relations Department at the Ministry, writing a report about … um, Muggles, I guess. I always tuned out whenever he rambled about it. Damn, I should probably start listening.

"_Finished_?" Scorpius said, slamming the door shut and dumping his jacket onto the floor with his bag. "Rosie, I flipping _nailed_ that report! Finished it with time to spare! My boss was ecstatic, he didn't think I'd ever finish it before New Year's …"

And that was when he started rambling, so I took the opportunity to ignore the slowly melting jacket and bag and just drank my tea, leaning against the table to take in his crazily gesturing arms as he spoke. No matter his annoying quirks, Scorpius Malfoy still somehow managed to make me feel like I was fifteen-years-old again.

"… and – Rosie, are you listening?"

"What? Totally, you finished your report, yeah!" I said quickly, hastily setting down my empty cup on the table behind me. Scorpius just folded his arms and gave me a withering look. "Good on ya."

"Rose Weasley, you weren't listening to a single word."

"I was!" I insisted. "It was about … um, Muggles, right?"

Scorpius just scoffed. "I give up!" he cried. "You never care about anything but your own work, I don't know why I bother … you still got the kettle on?"

"Oi!" I protested as he rushed past me for the kitchen. "I care about your work!"

"_Really_?" Scorpius glanced back at me with a dubious expression. "What _is_ my job, then?"

"You work in Muggle Relations!"

"… really?" Scorpius said again. "That's all you've got?"

"Well, what else d'you want me to say?" I countered as Scorpius shook his head, pouring himself a cup of tea. "You work in Muggle Relations, a go-to point between our country's two populations, a liaison, if you will, for magic and non-magic folk alike, a _link_–"

"Oh, shut it," Scorpius cut over me. "Now you're just making crap up. Oh, and your hair looks like a bird's nest, by the way."

"Gee, thanks, I so remember why I keep you around!" I said, my hand subconsciously reaching up to try and flatten my hair to no avail. My hair had always been a curly mess, but Scorpius had said on numerous occasions that he liked it! "And, well, I don't like your nose!"

"_Pardon_?" Scorpius looked shocked I'd even said anything.

"That's right!" I said, pointing out said nose. "It's too sticky-uppy!"

"You're a bloody nutcase, you know that, right?"

"That's what you get for insulting me!"

"_Insulting you_–? Oh, for god's sake, Rosie, I didn't–"

"Then, you just waltz in here, throw your crap on the ground and start drinking _my_ tea!" I carried on rambling, storming over to yank the half-full cup out of Scorpius's hands, which caused him to yelp. I'm not even entirely sure why I'm suddenly mad at him. I think I've been craving human company for so long, that I've just snapped and forgotten how to speak normally to someone.

"I do this all the time!" Scorpius countered.

"Exactly! It's not _your_ flat, so–"

"–yeah, but it _is_ my girlfriend's flat, and I _thought_ she loved me, but now–"

"Shut UP!" I yelled at him. "You're driving me INSANE!"

Then, I reached up, yanked behind his head and kissed him for all he was worth. I didn't even think, just did was seemed to naturally come to me. I let my fingers curl into his hair and held his lips to mine despite the still ebbing anger. The rest of his body seemed undecided, though. He still stood away from me, his hands possibly coming up to tug my arms away, though they only really sort of hovered, as if he wasn't really sure if this was what he wanted.

"Y'know–" Scorpius tried to mutter between our lips. "You're – you're kind of giving me mixed messages here – mfpt!"

I didn't let him finish, but kissed him again and this time, he appeared to give up and just kissed me back. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he moved to press his body to mine and trap me against the kitchen bench. I grinned through our kiss at my victory and Scorpius obviously felt it, as he pulled away for a second,

"Yeah, you drive me insane, too." he muttered before kissing me again. Only this time, he lifted me off the ground entirely, causing me to yelp as he carried me back to the lounge like I hadn't been drinking numerous amounts of tea and binging on chocolate biscuits all day.

"Scorpius!" I cried as he threw me down onto the sofa, on top of all the blankets I had previously been snuggling under. Scorpius just snorted with laughter and completely ignored my protest, leaping down on top of me to continue kissing me, thrusting his hands in my hair. I couldn't help it. I pretty much melted. It had been _so long_ since we'd been this close and let's face it, we don't do domestic very well. We almost always end up in some sort of fight. So any chance we can get, hell, I'm taking it!

"… have I … mmfp, uh … I … love you!" I gasped out, wrapping my legs around him. "That's what I wanted to say! I love you!"

"Yeah? You better." he laughed at me, his lips grazing my cheek.

In retaliation, I remembered a spot on Scorpius's neck that I knew drove him absolutely insane and I figured that if there was ever a time to use it to my advantage, it would be now. So Scorpius's laugh was soon cut off in a strangled gasp, as I reached up and kissed him on that spot the way I knew would practically kill him. "No, you can't just–! Ah, god, _Rosie–_" he murmured. I had no problem getting him to sit up on his knees, his hands gripping my waist so tightly that his nails dug in. Just as he tugged at the hem of my shirt, I pulled away and shoved him suddenly down onto the sofa on his back.

He blinked up at me in surprise, probably wondering how the hell he'd ended up in this position. I just laughed at his face as I moved to straddle his hips. "… god, I love you." he said, simply.

I just raised an eyebrow. "_You better_."

He grinned as I bent down to kiss him again. Honestly, this basically made me lose my mind. I trailed my arms up his sides as he muttered my name. Half the time, I was forced to try and remember that he was indeed speaking English.

"It's …" he began, but I pulled him up for another drawn out kiss. "It's been a while since we've – _ah!_ – done this …"

"Better make the most of it, then …" I muttered, our lips always moving against each other. I practically moaned as his hands moved to my –

"HOLY MERLIN!"

Underneath me, Scorpius leapt a bloody mile and as a result, his head smashed into mine as he jolted. We both yelled in pain and the recoil from the head bashing almost made me fall off the sofa entirely. I tried to leap off him, only my head started to swim and I did a more rolling slide off Scorpius, half-landing on the floor, half trying to stay on the sofa. Clearly trying to help, Scorpius threw his arm around my waist, only the resulting awkward cough from the fireplace made us both look up in alarm.

Lily Potter stood at the hearth of our fireplace, soot over her clothes and an arm thrown over her eyes, obviously having just flooed over unannounced yet again. She peaked out from under her arm and noticed our awkward position.

"Um …" I squeaked.

"God, you _really_ need to get a sign for your fireplace," she said, still reluctant to move her arm. "'I'm busy shagging my boyfriend, so piss off' or something like that!"

Rose: 7, Scorpius: 5.

(Oh, come on, I totally won that. I had him completely wrapped around my … er, yeah, I won't describe that).

* * *

(_Despite the mass hysteria induce by this) _

(_I've never been to Brazil before!_)

"Excuse me, waiter?" I called out, trying desperately to not burst out laughing.

The very grumpy waiter halted in his tracks for about the fifth time in a row. Spinning on his heel, James Potter stalked back to me with a scowl that would have sent little girls crying. "Yes, what is it now?"

"Oh, there's far too much milk in my tea," I said, enjoying this far too much. "And too much sugar."

"I'm sorry, _ma'am_, but you asked me to put in more milk." James said through gritted teeth.

"Did you?" I tasted it again. "Hmmm … nope, sorry, just not right!"

"For Merlin's sake, Rosie, this isn't funny anymore–!"

"Oh, well, if that's the case, I want to speak to the manager …" I said, holding up the still pretty much full cup of tea for him. James stood, his hands twitching for a moment as if he contemplated strangling me, before snatching the cup out of my hands, nearly spilling the tea everywhere.

"I'm very sorry, I'll get you _another_." he snarled before storming off.

Bea, Al and I burst out into hysterical laughter. It was just too funny pissing off James.

It was always a rare moment when the three of us got the same day off. My shifts were erratic at the best of times and for the past few cycles I'd been working something insane like fourteen hour shifts. Like, whenever I got a break, I had taken to napping in the broom cupboard on the third floor.

Whenever a day like this happened, we had taken to picking a random place somewhere in London and just going out for the day together. I barely remembered that Al and Bea were together, since we just spent the entire day mucking around and being the best friends that we are. Only today, we had decided that our place was going to be _Café Julio_, just down the road from the fruit and vege market and where James Potter just so happens to work.

"Are you out of the maternity ward yet, Rosie?" Bea asked me, taking a gulp of her coffee. She looked so tired, slumped down on the worn sofa with Al's arm thrown around her, but she still managed to smile.

"Just started a new cycle, thank the lord," I said, glad that my baby-delivering days were finally over. "Healer Sharpe only _just_ passed me. I swear, it's the first time in my life I haven't gotten a perfect mark for something!"

"Don't tell me, you actually feel annoyed." Al said, grinning.

"Yes, I do!" I said to them. "So I passed out! Big deal, I still made it through a full delivery, didn't I?"

"You said they had to throw a bucket of water over you!" Bea laughed.

"Well … I woke up in the end!"

"Look, I think we can learn from this experience," Bea pointed out. "Rose Weasley is _not_ going to work in the maternity ward. Question is: where _are_ you going to work?"

"I don't know," I said, honestly. "I've almost worked everywhere and I still can't decide. I love all of it! Except the maternity ward, of course. And I wasn't too keen on potion-mixing; that was just insanely dull. I liked working in the children's wards, though, those kids were hilarious …"

"Ah, you've got another three and a half years to figure it out," Al waved a hand dismissively. "You'll be fine."

"That's if I get a full position."

"Of course you will!" Al insisted, like it was an everyday fact. "You're Rose Weasley, aren't you? There's nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it!"

It was small moments like that that reminded me why I still hung out with Al. I mean, I always knew that he loved me more than just the obligatory family-love cousins had – he was my best friend, too – but sometimes I would be so wound up in my own life I would forget. Then I would hear something like that, such unwavering faith in me, like it was insane to think anything less … and it hit me in a way I wasn't expecting. To my horror, I actually felt tears come to my eyes. I muttered, "Thanks, Al." and turned away, blinking hard.

Glancing over the café, I noticed that James was hurrying back with my tea, looking slightly alarmed. I suddenly became suspicious; what the hell had he done to my tea?!

"Here!" He shoved the cup into my hands without so much as a gritted out, "I'm sorry about the wait, miss," In fact, he looked like his mother had just stormed into the café, ready to kill. "Al!" he said, quickly. "I just got an owl from Lily!"

"So? What about?" Al sat up straight, noticing the unusual look on his brother's face. I don't think any of us had ever seen him look so worried. "… shit, what's happened?"

James just shook his head, pulling out the note from his apron. "I … oh, Merlin, you just have to read it. Luckily I was out back when the owl turned up, otherwise I would have had to modify a lot of memories!"

I practically leapt over the coffee table to land on Al's other side. The three of us all leaned in close to read the letter,

_James, _

_Look, I know it was going to get out somehow, so I'm just going to explain myself to you so you don't hear it second-hand. I'm trusting you to tell Mum, Dad and Al, 'cause I know you're the most easy-going out of all of us. I know I'm asking a lot. I'm sorry. _

_I've left Hogwarts. As soon as the play was over, there was nothing holding me there. I don't need NEWTs and I don't need to spend another five months sitting in a classroom. I want to be out there, doing something! _

_I've decided to travel. I want to see the world! I took the first Portkey I could and I'm gone from the country. Yes, I'm fine. No, I'm not coming back and no, you can't convince me to. Please don't try. I know Mum's going to go nuts when she finds out, so maybe try and soften the blow a bit before you tell her? _

_I know it's not fair to dump this all on you, but Mum and Dad are out and Al would just go spare and try and haul me back before telling the rest of you. Please, just remember that I'm your little sister and I love you. This is what I want to do and I'm ok. _

_Love, _

_Your little LL. xox _

"She's WHAT?!" Al roared, shaking the letter as if it would unleash a secret message that made more sense.

"She left Hogwarts!" I cried. "I can't believe it! I mean, I should believe it, she's been harping on about it the whole year, but I never thought she'd actually _do_ it!"

"I know!" James said as Bea read the letter again, seeming to want to commit it to memory. "What the hell? How could she just skip the country and leave it to _me_ to tell everyone? Mum's going to bloody kill me just for getting the damn letter!"

"Well, we're just going to have to go after her, aren't we?" I stand, abandoning my un-drunk tea and standing up.

James and Al just stared at me. "Rosie, I don't think you quite understand," James said, slowly. "Our sister, Lily, has _skipped the country_. She could be anywhere in the flipping WORLD!"

"Actually," Bea said and the three of us snapped around to her. "I know a way we could find her. Trevor's sister still works in the Portkey Office, doesn't she?"

* * *

"_Lily Potter, you've got some explaining to do_!" I roared, crashing into the hotel room with a dramatic _bang_.

Lily leapt a mile from where she was lounging on the balcony in the blazing sun, sipping what appeared to be a martini. Her eyes widened in shock when she noticed who had found her, since James was storming in right behind me.

Like Bea had said, there had indeed been a way to find her. Trevor's older sister, Gracie, scheduled a lot of international Portkeys and was in charge of checking in. It had taken a lot of bribing, but she eventually broke all confidentiality by telling us which Portkey Lily had taken. We now owed Gracie about twenty Galleons and a free drink, but neither James, nor I cared.

It had been decided that James and I were the best ones to go. Lily was right in that Al would just not listen to reason and would simply attempt to drag her home by the scruff of the neck. James would be a bit more willing to hear her out and, well, I was just there to keep them on-topic. Knowing James' attention span, Lily could very easily convince him to join her in in the summer sun.

I couldn't actually believe I was in Brazil, of all places. The second we had arrived at the Portkey office in Rio de Janiro, four hours behind our time, it was mid-afternoon again and I swear I was already sweating from the heat. Once we shed our winter coats and donned a lot of sunblock, we managed to track Lily down using a mix of magic and good old questioning. Turns out, red-headed Lily had made quite an impression here in Brazil.

Getting Lily's room number had been the hardest part of the journey. Not only did neither James nor I speak a word of Portuguese, but they were reluctant to give out private information and unfortunately, we couldn't exactly bribe them like we did with Gracie. We could have knocked on every door in the hotel, but there were over a hundred rooms! We'd be here forever! It was only an American tourist randomly passing by who helped tip us off. Once he realised who we were talking about, he mentioned that a girl that was in the room opposite his.

Naturally, crashing into the room like some sort of superhero seemed like the most obvious thing to do.

"Wha – Rosie?! _James_? How the ever-loving hell did you two manage to find me?!"

"That is _so_ not the point!" I cried. "What the hell were you _thinking_, just taking off like this?! Did you consider what your mum and dad would think? Did you even think about the fact that any potential future career for you has just been thrown out the window?! Did you use your brain at _all_?!"

"Er, Rosie," James grabbed my shoulder and gave it a squeeze, since I'm pretty sure I was foaming at the mouth. "Maybe … maybe you should go inside for a bit. Have a martini. Yeah?"

I shot Lily a glare and she had the decency to look ashamed. She glanced at the floor of the balcony, unable to keep my eye. "_Fine_." I snapped and I spun and stormed back into Lily's hotel room. I had to hand it to her; Lily certainly knew how to travel in style. If she was seriously planning this, she wouldn't be able to live like this forever. Sure, she had money all right; all of the Potter kids had a savings account at Gringotts that they were allowed to access once they were seventeen, which conveniently, Lily was old enough to attain. Even in the Muggle world, she was deemed old enough to travel the world, her birthday only having been last month. But still, this was insane …

James shut the door to the balcony to talk to his sister and I had nothing to do but explore the hotel room. I helped myself to a martini like James suggested and turned on the P.V. while James and Lily talked. In fact, they talked for so long out on that balcony that by the time they came back inside, it was to find me slightly tipsy and watching a soap opera in Portuguese.

"Oh, come on, don't drink that, she's going to poison you–! Oh, she's dead," I commented as one of the characters fell dramatically to her death. "Oh, the two return!" I added, noticing my cousins. "Well, c'mon, my head hurts a bit and I'm pretty sure the blokes at the Ministry said that the next Portkey was in a few hours … or he could have meant that cupcakes are on sale, I'm not entirely sure …"

"Rosie, I'm not going home." Lily cut over me.

I stared hard. "Oh, you're _going_ home!" I said. "Even if James and I have to tie you up and drag you! Come on, James, let's–"

"Rosie, LL's right," James said and I halted in my attempts to stand. He had his arm around his little sister. "She's not coming home."

"… she's got to you, hasn't she?!" I accused, pointing a finger. "Damn it! I _knew_ we should have brought Al–!"

"Rosie, shut up," James said, rolling his eyes. "I actually took the time to listen, unlike you. She hasn't brainwashed me. I actually understand where she's coming from and why she's doing this and it's for good reasons."

I just snorted, but Lily continued. "Rosie …" she said, ducking out from under James' arm and hesitantly approaching me. "School just isn't for me. For you, exams and grades was what counted. It showed what you could do and that's fine, that works for you! But for me … I can learn so much _more_ from this, rather than just sitting in a classroom. All I've ever wanted is to see the world … can you let me?"

"But … you're by yourself, just one girl!" I protested. "You're barely of age! Travelling the world, you'll end up murdered in a ditch somewhere!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Rosie, I can take care of myself, I'm a witch, remember?" she said, tapping her wand in her pocket. "No doubt I'll meet up with a lot of people and we can travel together! I'll never be alone, Rosie. Please, trust me. I can do this. I've _got_ to do this." When I didn't say anything, she asked again, "_Can you let me_?"

It took me a while. It took a lot of pleading, martinis and emotional breakdowns, but eventually, I could see where Lily was coming from. And though I knew that Auntie Ginny was going to kill her, then kill me for not managing to convince her to come home and that I would constantly worry over whether Lily would be ok travelling the world … I trusted her.

Plus, she promised to buy me a key-ring from every country she visits.

Rose: 8, Scorpius: 5.

(Ok, I know Scorpius didn't actually have anything to do with this dramatic moment in the life of Rose Weasley, but I deserve something, ok?).

* * *

(_From this point on, my love life is always going to depend on my father_)

(_There is something seriously wrong with that sentence_).

I tumbled out of the fireplace and onto the rug in the lounge that I always used to lie on in the evenings when I was little. Soot went everywhere, but before I could wave my wand and get rid of it, someone beat me to it.

"Rosie!" my dad cried, his smile making my heart warm slightly. "What're you doing here?"

"Yeah, er …" I glanced around my childhood home. Even though I came here so often, it still felt slightly foreign to me, like I wasn't in my usual place. It had become my parents' house, not my home. "I didn't exactly have anywhere else to go …"

"Ah," I could tell Dad was supressing the numerous amounts of swearing he wanted to say. "What's the kid done now?"

I almost laughed at my dad as I collapsed onto the sofa, Dad sitting down next to me. Even though Scorpius and I have been together for almost four years now, Dad still can't bring himself to call him 'Scorpius', nor will Mum let him call my boyfriend 'Malfoy'. So he got dubbed 'the kid' and has been ever since.

"Nothing," I sighed. "This time, it was my fault."

"Was it bollocks," Dad said at once. Then he cringed and glanced at the door to the kitchen. "Er – I mean – don't tell your mother I said that … you want to talk about it?"

"Nah," Instead, I curled my legs underneath me and snuggled up to my dad. I'm sure I shocked him. I mean, I'm almost twenty years old, and I'm cuddling like I'm still a little child. But my dad still threw his arm around me without asking. "Tell me about your day instead."

"Oh, well, it was pretty boring, just a lot of paper work, though there was this one bloke your uncle interrogated, he said the 'voices' _made_ him–"

"He just totally kicked me out of my own flat!" I cut in across him, turning to yell at my dad's face. "I mean, I LIVE there, and he goes and throws me out!"

Dad raised an eyebrow. "… so, you _do_ want to talk about it?"

I gave an exasperated groan, wrenching myself out of my dad's lap so I could begin to pace in front of him on the rug. "It's just – it started as a stupid fight, as it always does! It never _means_ anything; I _never_ mean what I say! But he threw everything wildly out of proportion and he actually _threw_ me out the front door, screaming he never wanted to see my face again! I couldn't go to Al's, he and Bea we're having a date night or some shit like that, so I was forced to come crawling back home like a little kid who's done something wrong! I HATE HIM!"

The fireplace gave a tiny explosion behind me and I realised that my anger and wild gestures had sent it out of control. I jumped slightly as the flames licked up the mantel piece and almost sent our family photos on fire. Dad was quick to douse them with water and didn't comment as I stood in front of him, breathing heavily and feeling ashamed.

"I haven't seen you burst out of control like that since you were nine," Dad said calmly, waving his wand like it was no big deal. "Hugo got his head trapped in the cat flap, remember? His crying got you so upset that you almost blew the door off its hinges. I was so proud of you … only your mother was more worried about your brother getting thrown halfway across the garden …"

"Yeah, I remember." I huffed, folding my arms. "So what?"

"So," Dad chucked his wand onto the coffee table and sat down, patting the seat next to him. "I know what you're like, my little Rosie. The people you love make you go insane. Now sit and listen to one of your dad's stories."

"Aw, shit, you've got to be kidding me." I groaned, collapsing next to him.

"Oi," my dad poked me in the side. "You'll like this one. I don't think I've ever told you or Hugo before, mainly because stories about your mother and I made you pretend to go vomit in that old vase over there." He pointed to the giant, extremely ugly vase that Dad's Great Auntie Muriel had apparently given to Mum and Dad as a wedding present. As far as I'm aware, Mum had never _ever_ bothered to clean it.

"You've got a 'Mum and Dad' story for me?" I asked, trying not to sound interested. As always, Dad could read me like a book.

"You and the kid remind me a lot of us back when we were your age," Dad said, setting in for his story. I rested my head on his shoulder to listen. "We were nineteen, Hermione had just got a job at the Ministry and we were moving in together. We had a flat in the middle of London and our first night there, we got into an argument over where the sofa should go."

"… seriously?" I said, flatly.

Dad snorted. "Yeah, seriously. She wanted it by the window, I wanted it in the middle … anyway, we got into a huge screaming match that I swear woke up all the neighbours and eventually, she kicked me out, slamming the door in my face. I was practically crying by this stage. I couldn't go home, because your grandma thought we were crazy to be moving in together so young and she would just say I told you so. Any of my brothers would just make fun. So I ended up crashing on your Uncle Harry's sofa for the night."

"Bet Auntie Ginny loved that." I said, smiling.

Dad smirked. "Turns out, she was staying over that night. I hadn't even known, but she woke me up, getting a drink of water. She got me to tell her what happened and she opened my eyes, getting me to realise that I couldn't take any of our fights lying down. For Hermione and me … arguing was like second nature. It was always going to happen and when it did, I couldn't just mope and sulk, otherwise I'd let it go on too long and ruin our relationship entirely. So I went back to her, right then in the middle of the night. She was pretty pissed off," Dad shrugged. "But she forgave me."

"Is …" I thought back to all the previous fights I'd ever witnessed between Mum and Dad over the years. The times Mum had thrown him out of the house were endless. Once, I flooed without permission to my uncle and auntie's house just to try and bring him back. "Is that why whenever you have a fight, you go to Auntie Ginny?"

Dad nodded. "I'm always afraid that if I go anywhere else, I won't have the sense knocked into me to go back to your mum. And I _have_ to go back to your mum, every time …"

"You really love her, don't you?" I asked, quietly.

"How d'you think you and Hugo were made, eh?" Dad sorted, squeezing me tightly. "Of course I love her, even now after thirty odd years. But I always wonder …" He shuddered slightly. "I always wonder what would have happened if I hadn't crashed at your auntie's that night. Would I have ever gone back? I don't think I would have, Rosie … and that scares me a bit …"

I stayed silent for a moment. Even as a little kid, despite the screaming and fighting I'd witnessed, I'd never doubted for a second how much my parents loved each other. Just for a moment, I wondered what would have happened if I hadn't have come here … if perhaps, I'd just wandered the streets for a bit.

Would I have ever gone back to Scorpius?

"I have to go apologise, don't I?" I asked.

Dad nodded. "If you love him, Rosie, don't _ever_ let him go without a fight," he said. "You go back there and you bang on that door until he lets you in, even if it takes hours. Yeah?"

I sat up straight, smiling. "Yeah." I said.

"Good!" Dad grinned, shoving me to my feet. "Now that you know how much of a romantic your dad is, you can use all my wisdom to get your man back!"

"Wisdom? _Romantic_? Dad, you just said Auntie Ginny had to _force_ you to go back!"

"Hey, it's _my_ story," Dad got to his feet, waggling a finger in my face. "When you have kids of your own, you can spin your story whatever way you want. But that's way in the future, you hear me? _Way, way_ in the future!"

"Yes, Dad." I said, rolling my eyes.

Just as I was heading for the fireplace, Mum came home from work. She came into the lounge, shedding her jacket and gave a start when she saw me. "Rosie!" she said. "Darling, what are you doing here?"

"Don't worry, Mum," I told her. "Dad sorted me out!"

"You _what_?" Mum turned to stare at Dad in amazement.

"I know!" Dad gave a triumphant grin. "I managed to sort one of our children's problems without having to come running to you! I'm fantastic!"

Conclusion to my second year out of Hogwarts: 

-I will never _ever_ be a midwife.

-I should probably tone down the crazy whenever one of my cousins does something mad. I mean, I did get to see Brazil! But I may have traumatised several people in the process …

-Libby's parties are brilliant, whether they be Christmas or otherwise. Nothing will ever change that.

-I have learnt to never punch people who control whether you keep your job or not and also that sometimes, my dad can perform miracles!

Rose: 8, Scorpius: 5, Dad: 1.

(Let's face it, Dad deserves something for that).

* * *

A/N: So yeah, the second year out of Hogwarts. As you may have noticed, this story is a bit more teen-rated than GIR was, but it's to be expected, they're young adults living away from home with no parents! I myself am currently in the same situation (when I'm not on summer break) so I know _exactly_ what these crazy kids get up to.

I again apologise for the insane length of this! It will (hopefully) get shorter once the story really starts.

Thank you so much for the support you have given CGIR so far, your thoughts mean a lot to me. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

Reviews are always appreciated! Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	4. The Third One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, feather boas, insane families or awkward future talks.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 3: The Third One.

(_My_ _third year out of Hogwarts, 2026_).

(_A ten-tonne walrus with commitment issues_)

(_Yeah. That _is _a new one_).

"I HATE my job!" Bea yelled, storming into our flat and slamming the door for good measure. I barely flinched anymore. She'd done this far too many times.

"What's _Moni_ done now?" I asked, rolling my eyes and not even looking up from my text book.

Bea gave an exasperated groan, collapsing onto the sofa next to me. "She flipped out because I was five minutes late getting back from my break," she moaned. My best friend looked so miserable that I sighed, gesturing with my arms and letting her snuggle into my side. She did so gratefully, hugging me round the middle as I balanced my book on the arm of the sofa. "Everyone else is always, without fail, at _least_ ten minutes late and does she care about _them_? No! It's always _me_!"

"Scorpius reckons you should just slap her and get it over with." I said, shrugging.

"Yeah, well, punching her didn't work," Bea snorted. "And since when did listening to Scorpius result in anything good?"

"Oi!" I said. "That's my darling-other-half you're insulting!"

Bea laughed again. "Yeah, and you're calling him your 'darling-other-half'. What're you fighting about this time?"

I blanched at that. "What makes you think we're fighting?" I asked, avoiding her gaze. Kind of difficult when she's still cuddling you.

Bea rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on," she said. "It's always obvious when you've been fighting, you pretend to be all overly-in-love. It's rather sickening and fairly obvious."

I sighed. "Oh, bugger it," I said, chucking my book onto the coffee table and snuggling into Bea. "Yeah, we had a bit of a screaming match last night, when you and Al were out having dinner at Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny's."

"What about?"

"Oh, apparently the idiot is going away for work. There's been an incident in Russia I think where several Muggles were attacked by a wizard and they want Scorpius to be a part of the team that handles the trial."

"But that's brilliant!" Bea said, frowning. "Why Russia, though? Don't they have their own Muggle-relations department? Ooh, it's going to be cold once he gets there! And I thought England was bad in November!"

"Oh, apparently Russia's in the middle of re-building their Ministry and don't have employees to spare or something, I don't bloody know! Point is that yeah, it would normally be brilliant, except for the fact that he's going to be gone for _4 weeks_ and he didn't even _tell_ me!"

"Why, when's he leaving?"

"Tomorrow!"

"_What_?" Bea sat up then, looking simply offended. "Tomorrow?! Now I'm pissed off that he didn't tell _me_!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well, it gets worse – he told Al!"

"Al?!" Bea actually let out a growl. "Oh, he's going to have it coming when he gets home …"

"Oh, don't you start fighting with Al," I told her, throwing an arm back around her. "It's not his fault, Scorpius is the one to get pissed off at."

Bea was silent for a moment or two while I just seethed under my breath. I wouldn't even be angry if he'd just bloody _told_ me. But the idiot apparently 'could not bring himself to tell me' that he was going away for a month because he was going to 'miss me _so_ much'. Bastard. Now he was leaving tomorrow and expected me just to be _ok_ with it! Even worse, I found out because I accidentally discovered his ticket for the international Portkey while trying to find a spare t-shirt in his room. I don't even know when he was planning on letting me know; perhaps while he was swirling magically somewhere over Europe? I could imagine, "Hey, Scorpius, you in for dinner tonight?" "Nah, I'm going to be working late." "That's fine, how late?" "Oh, about _four weeks_."

Naturally, I was rather pissed off.

"Rosie," Bea said after a moment of stewing in silence. "I know you're upset at Scorpius for not telling you … I am, too. But why're you actually so _mad_ at him?"

I sighed, since I knew exactly why. "Because, Bea," I said, warily. "I'm going to flipping miss him."

Bea grinned. "Oh, Rosie, it's only for four weeks–" she began, but luckily she couldn't work herself up into a complete spaz, because that was when Al came home. Or, well, when he came home to our flat, since the four of us often hung out at either one flat or the other. If no one was at his and Scorpius's, we were likely to all be over here.

Unfortunately for him, however, Bea was still pissed off.

"Hey, guys–! Woe, what's this? A snuggle party?" Al asked, eyeing our hug on the sofa. But in the next second, Bea had leapt up, yelling "You!" and promptly slapped Al across the face.

"OUCH!" Al yelled, clutching at his now bright red cheek. "Bea! What the flipping HELL was that for?!"

"Why didn't you TELL me Scorpius was leaving for a month?!" Bea burst out. "He's not just _your_ best mate, he's mine, too! Didn't you even _think_ of telling me or bloody hell, even _Rosie_?! Now they're rowing again because of you!"

It seemed Bea had finished yelling, because now she calmly breathed in and out, eyes closed. Once she'd taken several breaths, she glanced up at Al and said, "Right. Hello, Al. Have a nice day at work?"

"You done screaming at me, then?" Al asked, still perplexed.

"For now," Bea said, touching Al's tender cheek. "That looks sore, hang on–" She prodded him with her wand, muttering a cooling charm and Al gave a relieved look. "Honestly, Al, the way you let women throw you around …"

"Yeah, can't seem to shake them off …" Al said, looking bemused as he shook his head at Bea. Then he noticed my no doubt pitiful position, slumped over the end of the sofa. "Hey, Rosie," he said, sitting down next to me. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But he didn't want to be fussed over and he knew that he'd get a verbal bashing by you if he said anything, so he sort of just … didn't."

"What did he expect, to just suddenly disappear for a month and for me to be none the wiser?" I said, rather roughly.

Al snorted. "He was hoping that because you love him, you'd understand," was all he said, before standing and tugging on Bea's hand, pulling her to the front door. "C'mon, I think she needs some time alone."

I gave my cousin a grateful look as they stepped outside into the corridor and shut the door. I could hear them muttering together outside, but I didn't bother get up. I was actually feeling a bit bad now, to be honest. I mean, I think I _may _have over-reacted a little. I still stand by the fact that he should've told me, but when I looked at the grand scheme of things, four weeks was kind of nothing compared to what some other couples go through.

Oh, hell. He was leaving tomorrow for bloody Russia and the last thing I ever said to him was, "Get the _hell_ away from me, you BASTARD!" before promptly throwing a plate at him!

Suddenly, the muttering outside became audible as the front door opened again. I heard Al's low voice say, "Yeah, I'd watch out, though …" before the door shut again.

An awkward cough made me look up.

Oh, bloody typical. It's Scorpius.

He approached hesitantly, as if I was about to leap up and attack him or something (and I'll admit I've kind of considered that). He had a hand in his hair nervously as he began, "Ros–?"

I didn't let him finish. Within three seconds, I was up off that sofa, had jumped over the coffee table and had flung myself into his arms. So I suppose yeah, in a way, I _did_ attack him.

Scorpius hugged me in surprise, arms moving to wind around my waist as I buried my face into his blond hair. "I'm sorry!" I said, desperately. "I don't actually hate you, or think you're a ten-tonne walrus with commitment issues!"

"Yeah, that's one insult I didn't really get …" Scorpius said back, grinning now. I couldn't actually see his face, but I knew his voice well enough by now to know that's what he was doing.

I pulled away slightly, just so that I could look him in the eyes. "I love you," I said, trying to make it absolutely clear that I meant it. "I don't think I really say it often enough."

"You don't need to," Scorpius told me. "And I probably should've mentioned it before, but I really am _sorry_ I didn't tell you I was going until now. That one was definitely my fault and I don't blame you for getting angry at me for that."

I couldn't think of an answer that would appropriately say how bad I felt about screaming at him, so instead I kissed him hard. However, while I was expecting a little enthusiasm in return, all Scorpius did was yelp loudly into my mouth.

"What?!" I asked, pulling away and taking a step back from him.

"_Ouch_–!" Scorpius put a hand to his head and for the first time I noticed the angry red mark near his hairline with a bruise just starting to form around it. The mark I had just run my hand over.

"Oh my god, did _I_ do that?" I asked.

"Er, yeah," Scorpius said, reluctantly. "I must admit, Rosie, you have very good aim …"

Rose: 8, Scorpius: 6.

(Merlin, I feel so bad about the fact that I hit him with a plate that HE ends up with the point!).

* * *

(_Feather boas, singing and copping off with random strangers_)

(_Apparently a life without Scorpius is a dangerous one_).

"I miss Scorpius!" I whined, slumped down on our sofa.

It had to be about ten thirty at night and Scorpius _still_ wasn't back from Russia. The past month had been long and boring. I had a brief flash to what my life would be like without Scorpius in it and while I had thought at first that it would be nice and peaceful, it turned out that it was just completely _dull_. Bea stayed with Al half the time, so many nights I would come home to an empty flat and with nothing to do but drink tea and read my text books. I mean, _honestly_.

Scorpius had specifically told me he'd be back before two this afternoon. Well, actually I think his exact words had been, "I'll be back _way_ before two, Rosie! Love you!" as he rushed out the door, so I wasn't entirely sure how reliable that information was. Still, you don't promise someone you'll be back by a certain time when you know you're _not_ going to be back by then!

So since, of course, all problems can be solved with alcohol, Bea had come home from work around five, only to find me lying in the middle of the sofa with my legs stretched out on the coffee table straight in front of me, sporting a half-empty bottle of Firewhisky, completely and undoubtedly plastered.

She had shaken her head at me and tried to get me to stop drinking. However, just as Bea had managed to get the bottle off me, Libby had shown up, wanting to borrow some soap for a shower (her latest flatmate having eaten all of hers). Long story short, we ended up having some sort of binge fest together, Libby and Bea on either side of me, legs stretched out as well so I'm sure we looked like … well, three sad girls, drinking.

"I miss my cat." Libby said, thoughtfully.

"I didn't know you had a cat." I pointed out, rolling my head to the side to glance at her.

"Well, she wasn't _mine_," Libby said, sighing. "She was a lovely little stray who would turn up under my window and I'd feed her. But she hasn't been around recently. I miss her …"

"I forgot how much I like you, Libby," Bea giggled from my other side. "You should hang out with us more often!"

"I saw you guys last weekend at Toby and Jo's birthday party, Bea."

Bea frowned for a moment. "Oh, that's right … pass the Firewhiskey?"

I peered at the bottle for a moment, before turning it upside down. Only one solitary drop came out. "I think we drank it all, Bea." I said.

"Aw." Bea muttered.

"That's fine!" Libby said. "We don't need alcohol to be happy!"

"Well, I feel sad now, so evidentially we do." I pointed out.

"Well, _you_ can't be as drunk as you think you are, if you're still using words like 'evidentially'." Libby said.

Hmm. She's right. And I'm still thinking clearly. That can't be good! For the past few days, thinking of Scorpius normally led to me just feeling depressed, but now I was starting to feel slightly angry whenever I thought of him; I mean, I don't _need_ Scorpius with me to have a good time! I'm Rose Bloody Weasley, for Merlin's sake! My life is insane enough without him in it; I could have fun by myself!

"Right, girls!" I said, slapping Libby's and Bea's shoulders before hurling myself upright. I stumbled slightly as I spun to face them, but ignored that fact. "Time to stop moping! We're going out tonight!"

"Seriously?" Bea asked as I grabbed her hand and hauled her up.

"Hells yeah!" I said, turning and helping up Libby. "It's Saturday, I don't have work tomorrow and I _don't_ need Scorpius to have a good time!"

"We _so_ aren't gonna go and get even more drunk, just to prove a point!" Libby cheered. "Not at all!"

"Get your dresses on, girls! We're hitting the clubs!"

Leaving for London's nightlife was a bit of a blur, I'll admit, but I could recall absolutely everything from Libby borrowing a purple dress off Bea, to myself accidentally tripping over Libby's little cat friend on the side of the road outside our block of flats. I don't know what club we ended up in, but it was roaring when we turned up and somehow, I found myself knocking back some sort of shot.

Aaaand that was when it all went black.

* * *

Next thing I knew, I was lying on our sofa with a pounding headache and a dead weight in my arms.

I tried rolling over and groaned as my stiff muscles protested. I was squashed between the back of the sofa and someone I guessed was Bea, since there was a lot of blond hair in my face. As I managed to sit up, I realised that my own hair was a crow's nest around my face and my dress had a large rip up the side. How the hell had _that_ happened?

"Ah, I see the wonderful Rosie has awoken!" came the all too cheerful voice of my cousin. Pushing my hair out of the way and squinting at the bright light, I saw Al practically skipping from the kitchen, carrying two cups of something I severally hoped was tea.

"Nargh …" I muttered, accepting the tea gratefully as Al sat on the coffee table opposite me and Bea, who was still out cold. "Stop screaming. What the hell happened?"

"You mean you don't remember?" Al snorted. "Doesn't surprise me, the amount of alcohol you must've had."

"Where's Libby?"

Al shrugged. "I dunno. Didn't even know she was with you guys until you mentioned it. Saw someone I thought could've been her snogging some bloke in an alley outside the club, but other than that …"

Bloody brilliant. My night of proving a point and I couldn't even remember.

I shook my head in confusion, but soon stopped since that just threatened to split my brain in half. "Oh my _god_ … I feel like you're smashing a mallet into my head. Seriously, what the hell happened last night? I can remember vaguely up until we got to the club … then absolutely _nothing_.

"So that's a no to remembering the karaoke bar …?"

"The hell?" I asked, confused. "We went to a _karaoke bar_?"

"Oh, yeah," Al was clearly trying to contain his laughter as he glanced down at Bea, fondly. "_I'm leaving on a jet plane_ had never sounded so good before."

"Holy crap, Bea actually _sang_?" I asked, eyes going wide.

Al snorted. "_Both_ of you did, Rosie!"

"_Oh my god_ …" I moaned, leaning my head against the back of the sofa and closing my eyes. "You've got to be kidding me …"

"Trust me, it was the best thing I'd seen all year."

"Hang on," I reluctantly glanced up, sure that my entire face was red. "How the heck did you come into this? It was supposed to be a girl's night!"

"Oh, all right," Al said, still smiling. "A bloke I work with saw the two of you at the first club you went to and got a bit concerned at the fact that you were completely off your faces, so he phoned me down there. Remember that mobile phone I got for my birthday last year?"

"The one Granddad accidentally dropped down the toilet?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised it still works," Al rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I get this random call about eleven thirty at night, so I head on down and sure enough, there you were. You didn't even seem to care how I turned up, just dragged me around with you. You seemed adamant on finding Libby, though, because she was long gone before I got there. So we ended up going from club to club trying to find her."

"Where did the feather boa come from?" I asked, pointing out the fluffy pink thing I'd just spotted, poking out from underneath Bea's legs. Al laughed again at that.

"A drag queen gave it to Bea," Al said. "After the performance at the karaoke bar."

I blinked. "You're joking, right?"

Al shook his head. "You have _no idea_ how much I wish I'd brought a camera. After the singing, I managed to rope you guys into coming home, but not before you wanted to go for a run in the reserve."

"Oh, dear lord …" I muttered. The reserve not far down the road from our flats was a lovely place, but was so full of pot-holes it was a wonder that everyone who walked through it didn't have –

"OUCH! SHIT!" I practically screamed as I had tried to stand up and found that there was a hastily wrapped bandage around my right ankle, which was throbbing painfully.

"Yeah, the run is where the sprained ankle came from," Al pointed out as he rushed forward to help me sit back down again. I collapsed at Bea's feet. "But I'm sure Healer Rosie can fix it."

My screams were apparently loud enough to rouse Bea, as she let out a groan and mumbled, "What the hell?"

Ok, all in all, not the best night I've ever had. _Hell_, I wished I could remember it!

Just then, the front door opened with a bang and someone with tussled hair and a purple dress came stomping through. One look was enough to tell me that Libby Fletcher had finally made her way home. Oh, and that she was extremely pissed off.

"Hi," she said, throwing her shoes to the side, angrily. "I am _never_ getting drunk with you two again!"

"Rough night?" Al asked, trying to contain his laughter.

"I remember _nothing_ from last night," Libby said. "Except for arguing with Bea about the pros and cons of having a _dolphin_ for a mother and then I wake up this morning in someone else's bed! Oh, and not just _anyone's_ bed!" she growled.

Despite my head still pounding, I'll admit that I was curious. "You're kidding, right?" Al asked as he turned around on the coffee table and Bea sat up.

Libby just continued to look furious. "You have _no_ idea how much I wish I was." she answered.

"I'm not sure whether to be disgusted to curious." Bea said, honestly.

"Ah, screw it, who'd you sleep with?" I asked.

Libby threw an accusing finger at Al, who looked defensive at first, but then Libby shouted,

"_Your_ _brother_! The wonderful James Bloody Potter!"

I gagged. Curiosity _completely_ gone.

Rose: 8, Scorpius: 7.

(If he can remember what he's doing in Russia, he's doing better than me).

* * *

(_If we were spies_)

(_Bea would crack under torture within five seconds_).

The day Scorpius finally decided to grace us with his presence, I nearly murdered him.

"Honestly, he says four weeks!" I grumbled, throwing my bag onto the sofa next to Bea. "_Four weeks is nothing Rosie, I'll be back before you know it_! Please. Give me a bloody break."

"Er, Rosie," Bea said. "It's been four weeks and one day."

I considered. "Well, who the hell are you? Time keeper?"

Bea snorted. "I won't even _try_ to comprehend how your mind works," she said. Er, yeah, probably a good idea that. "Anyway, how's LL? Have you heard from her recently?"

I shrugged. I heard from LL rather sporadically since she had taken off around the world. Starting in her randomly chosen country, Brazil, she'd been travelling ever since dropping out of Hogwarts entirely shortly after Christmas last year. I got the occasional letter from her, but most of the time, it seemed that she was off living her dream life, completely forgetting about her loving family back in England.

"Last I heard, she was somewhere in America," I said, collapsing next to Bea. "But that was back in November, right after Scorpius left. Apparently, she met a lovely American family who took her in for Thanksgiving. She said she was going to head to New York City in time for New Year's Eve, but soon starting rambling about all the things she'd bought during the Black Friday sales, so didn't get much out of her letter after that."

"So she's definitely not coming back to England for Christmas, then?" Bea said, softly.

I shook my head. It was a sign of our friendship that Bea didn't try and crack a joke to make me feel better. She knew that I had been looking forward to seeing my little cousin again and that I had been crestfallen when she'd sent a letter saying that she'd be staying overseas. I knew Hugo missed his best friend as much as I did, if not more, so we were currently putting together a Christmas package for Lily. Where the hell we'd send it, I didn't have a clue, but I'm sure it was the thought that counted.

Suddenly there came a huge _thump_ and a loud, "SHIT!" from outside. Exchanging looks, Bea and I jumped off the sofa, ran to the door and threw it open.

And speaking of people stuck overseas, woe behold! Scorpius Malfoy has decided to come back to England!

The cause of the crash was apparent almost immediately, since he carried about three different suitcases with him. They were sprawled about the hallway and he was currently hoping up and down on one foot in the middle of them, his swearing probably being heard across the street.

Normally when people come back from overseas, they look different. Like, they have a tan, or got dreadlocks from a dodgy salesmen because they wanted to 'adapt to the local culture' or are wearing a t-shirt that said something like 'I heart [insert name of holiday here]'. However, Scorpius didn't look any different. His hair was still messy and blond and considering the place he went to was Russia during November and December, a tan was about as likely as it was to stop raining in England.

His eyes lit up when he saw us. "Rosie! Bea!" he cried. "Sorry, I was going to come say hi, but that bloody suitcase dropped on my foot and–"

Thinks he can take an extra day in Russia and everything will be fine?! Bea and I will show him.

"–Scorpius, we missed you like mad!" Bea was suddenly saying, throwing her arms around him. "Well," she added, giving me a look. "I did. Rosie did too, though she won't admit it. You know how she gets."

"Of course," Scorpius said, pulling away and gingerly putting his foot back on the floor. Then he tentatively turned to me. "Erm … hi?"

But I wasn't paying any attention to him; well, sort of. "Bea!" I whined. "You're meant to be on my side!"

"Hey! I missed him!" Bea said, in reference to the hug she had given him. Not even ten minutes ago, Bea had totally and hundred per cent agreed to stick on my side and completely ignore every word Scorpius said to us upon his arrival.

Yeah, look how long that lasted.

"Weak! That's what you are, Bea! _Weak_." I huffed.

I tried to ignore Scorpius, I really did. But I couldn't exactly pretend that the fact that I'd missed him like crazy didn't exist. I didn't want to admit it. In fact, I kind of wanted to punch his face in. But here he was, just standing there, looking all gorgeous and Scorpius-ish and … ah, hell.

"So, um …" Scorpius looked sheepish. "How're you?"

"Oh, no," I poked a finger into his chest as hard as I could. "Don't you 'how're you?' me! Don't you even 'Rosie' me! First, you don't even tell me you're leaving until like, five minutes before you're due to leave the country–"

"Hey! You forgave me for that!"

"–then, you turn up _after_ when you said you would!" I ploughed on like I hadn't even heard him. "You're a bloody useless boyfriend, I hope you realise that!"

"Ok! Fine! Good Merlin …" Scorpius raised his hands in defeat. "I get it. I suck. I deserve a punch to the head," Then, for some reason, he grinned. "God, I missed you."

I very nearly snapped and snogged him on the spot. Thankfully, I managed to remember all the times in the past where I've done nothing but hated him and I managed to say, "Good! 'Cause you have no idea what you've missed! If you think I'm coming _anywhere_ near you, then the Portkey must have scrambled your head! C'mon, Bea, he's a strong lad, he can carry his bags himself!"

I strode back into our flat, dragging Bea by the elbow and slamming the door in Scorpius's face for good measure. Bea was complaining, but shut up the moment I rounded on her. "Y'know, you would make a _horrible_ secret agent." I told her.

"Hey!" Bea protested. "Don't kill our made-up dream of becoming world-class spies, together saving the world from death and destruction!"

"Yeah, well, I _am_ killing it because I've just found out that if we were indeed spies, you would crack under torture within five seconds!" I said.

Rose: 9, Scorpius: 7.

(Bea may be the worst spy ever, but I did not crack! We all know he was practically begging for a snog).

* * *

(_Sorry, Ally_)

(_This is what love is_).

"This … is the shift that will never _end_ …" I moaned, collapsing onto the worn sofa in the trainee staffroom. I almost sat on Ally's legs as a result, but she didn't seem to mind that much, just instinctively moved them at the last minute.

"You've only got four more hours," she said, without even looking up from her text book. "I have six hours and twenty nine minutes."

I rolled my head to the side so I could smile at her. Shy and logical, I don't think I'd ever seen her do something stupid, not like myself who does stupid things on many occasions. But every now and then, Ally would crack a joke I would not see coming and I would end up splitting my side laughing for days.

"I love your thinking, Ally."

"Why, thank you," Ally looked up and smiled back. "I'm actually glad to be stuck at work. I'd just be sitting at home, avoiding my flat mate otherwise."

"She's really that annoying?"

Ally rolled her eyes. "She never does her washing and never cleans anything! It's like she grew up raised by mole people! That and she brings home a different bloke every weekend and expects him to make breakfast for her in the morning! She's always surprised to find that he's escaped out of the window during the night."

"They actually jump out the _window_?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, trust me," Ally said. "One time, I helped a poor bloke get the latch open."

"But don't you live on the fifth floor?"

"Yes," Ally said, looking confused as to why I would bring it up. When I just tried not to laugh, she continued, "So basically, I think I'll just opt to stay on and work another shift."

"You can't stay here forever, eventually they'll be forced to send you home." I told her.

"A girl can try," Ally insisted. "Not that the people are much better here, save for the odd few people. You and Gerald for one."

"Yes, where is our wonderful friend?" I asked, glancing around the staff room. As far as the shift schedule was concerned, he was meant to be working, but I hadn't seen him all day. "I miss his antics."

Ally rolled her eyes. "He somehow managed to get the day off, swapping his shift with someone else."

"Why?"

"Oh," Ally looked frustrated, like something written in her text book was contradicting itself. "I believe he said it was his girlfriend's birthday or something and they were going out somewhere special, I don't know. I don't care."

"Ok …" I muttered. I decided against pointing out the obvious, which was that Ally clearly did care. Ally probably didn't even realise herself, something I had a bit of experience in, so I decided to let her figure it out on her own. "Well, in that case, I cordially invite you to come back to mine after our shifts if you really want to avoid your flatmate."

"Oh, you don't have to do that." Ally said, immediately.

"It's fine!" I told her. "Bea'll be at work until late and I can banish Scorpius to his own flat for a change. We can chuck on a Muggle film to watch and eat heaps of chocolate, yeah?"

Ally smiled. "That sounds lovely. But I thought Scorpius just got back from Russia last week, won't he be upset at not getting to see you?"

"Ah, the boy can handle it," I waved a hand, dismissively. "It'll do him some good, actually. It's not like we ever have plans, so he can't even mind."

* * *

Ally and I did have our night of watching a film on the P.V. and eating junk food and I was indeed forced to send Scorpius away, which he wasn't too happy about. But while Ally happily munched on chocolate and watched pirates running around, waving swords, the fact that Scorpius and I never had plans actually struck a chord in my mind.

When was the last time we'd ever actually gone out and _done_ something? I lost track of the film completely as I strained my mind, trying to think of the last time we'd even gone on a date. I came up blank and of course, that's when my irrational Rosie-brain started freaking out.

"Ally," I said, ignoring the pirate ship currently being attacked by a sea monster and turning to the girl next to me. "Is it weird that Scorpius and I never go out and do anything romantic?"

Ally wrinkled her nose. "You're asking _me_?" she said. "I've never had a boyfriend before!"

"Well, ok, but listen! We fight so much that half our relationship is spent making up, which to be perfectly honest, hardly ever leaves our bedroom, much less the flat. And the last time we tried going out somewhere, we got into a huge argument in the middle of a crowded restaurant and caused this huge scene! In the end, we got thrown out! Does that sound _normal_ to you?"

"Well …" Ally thought hard for a moment. "I do remember my friend Benny from Hogwarts. We grew up living next door together, so that's why we were friends. Apparently, he fancied me and told everyone I was his girlfriend, but to be honest, I didn't care much. He always wanted to go and do something together and he would get a bit angry when all I wanted to do was read. So I understand your concern."

I sighed. "I guess we're both abnormal," I muttered, watching one of the pirates get eaten by the monster on the P.V. screen. "But really, you lied to me," I said then, smirking at Ally. "You _have_ had a boyfriend before!"

Ally blushed bright red. "We were in sixth-year and I didn't know he fancied me! I don't think it counts."

"Right. And the fact that he called you his girlfriend meant _nothing_?"

"It was very one-sided," Ally answered, refusing to look at me and I laughed out loud. "Besides, I'm a bit of a book-freak. I hardly notice boys."

"Not even Gerald?"

Ally gave me a confused look. "I don't know what you mean," she said. "Of course I notice Gerald if we are together, it would be impossible not to, not to mention rude …"

I snorted. "Ok, let me rephrase: have you ever noticed the fact that Gerald is really hot and that _you fancy him_?"

I almost thought Ally was going to explode. She bypassed red completely and went bordering on purple. "What?!" she cried as the pirates in the background mourned the loss of their eaten pirate. "I don't … I don't _fancy _Gerald! He's my friend!"

"But he likes you! Oh, come on, you _must_ have noticed!" I told her, rolling my eyes. She continued to look at me blankly. "… seriously? No? He's totally in love with you! Every time you walk through the door, his entire face changes!"

"Well, I …" Ally fiddled with a stray thread on her t-shirt before violently ripping it off, like she could easily do the same to how she felt. "Oh _god_, Rosie. That's _love_?"

"Sorry." I said. Really, I was. I felt the exact same sitting on that stage five years ago.

"What do I do?"

"Erm … you're asking me?" I found myself throwing Ally's own words back at her. "I've _never_ had a normal relationship before!"

Rose: 9, Scorpius: 8.

(I'm not exactly functioning normally at this moment).

* * *

(_Awkwardly talking about the future and stuff_)

(_Yeah. That's the one conversation I was hoping to avoid_).

"… Scorpius?"

"Yeah?" Scorpius turned his head, slumped down so much on the sofa that his legs practically dangled off the other end of the coffee table. His arm was slung around me and my legs were dangling next to his. I was so comfortable that I never wanted to move.

And that's what frightened me a little.

"D'you think we've become one of those boring couples who never goes out and does stuff?" I asked.

Scorpius gave me a weird look. "What in Merlin's name makes you think _that_?"

"Ahem. Well," I gestured to our lounging bodies. "We haven't exactly moved all day, have we? And think about it, when was the last time we actually went out on a proper date?"

"Er … _oh my god_ …" Scorpius appeared to look shocked at the fact that he had to actually think about it. "Wait, wasn't it that restaurant we got kicked out of?"

"Exactly! That was for our anniversary last year!" I pointed out. "We don't _do_ anything! Normally it takes relationships fifty years of marriage to get to this point, but we're already there! It's freaking me out–!"

"Rose!" Scorpius sat up straight, moving his arm around me to grab me by the shoulders. "Look, I love you and everything, but you're making me nervous. Are you saying that you want to be one of those power-adventure couples who goes sky-diving and bungee-jumping every day off?"

"I'm saying that it's normal to at least leave the flat!" I cried. "We're not normal at all!"

Scorpius snorted with laughter, leaning back into the sofa. "That's never worried you before."

"Maybe it should." I muttered. Scorpius just rolled his eyes and tugged on my sleeve, making me lie down with him. I threw my head down onto his chest with an exasperated sigh and he slung his arm around me again, the other resting behind his head.

"Rosie, I _love_ you," Scorpius said and despite everything, I had to hide my grin against his t-shirt. "I don't think I say it enough, sometimes. I love you and I seriously don't think that's going to change any time soon, no matter what we do. We could go bungee-jumping a million times, or stay in and watch every film ever created while gorging ourselves on cheesy snacks, I wouldn't care. Besides," He rolled his eyes. "There'll be a whole other list of problems by the time we've been married for fifty years, so I say we just worry about the now."

I think my stomach imploded. Staring at his face, I said, "… _by the time we're_ _married_?"

The colour pretty much drained from his face. He tensed underneath me, but when he opened his mouth, I honestly thought he'd address the implications of what he'd just said. However, he suddenly bolted upright, practically throwing me off him as he stretched dramatically.

"Weeeeeell," he said, hastily standing up. "I think it's time for bed! Gosh, it's late, isn't it? I guess I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Oh, no you don't!" I cried, grabbing him by the back of his t-shirt as he tried to make a dash for the front door. I heaved and dumped him back onto the sofa next to me. "You're not running away from me! Did you mean what you just said? You think we'll someday be married for fifty years?"

"I … Rosie … it's just an expression …" Scorpius said, weakly.

"_Scorpius_ …"

"Oh – this is bloody ridiculous!" Scorpius huffed, folding his arms protectively across his chest. "Do we have to have this conversation _now_?"

"We've never had it before." I pointed out. Sure enough, there had been several moments over the five years of our relationship where the idea of a future came up, but that particular conversation had been hastily avoided every time. I'll admit, not always by Scorpius; I was terrified of the subject as well. But as much as I wanted to back-peddle and pretend I didn't care, a part of me was determined. I'd always tried to avoid considering the fact that we might have different plans for the future and I didn't want to think what might happen if we found out. It was why we'd never discussed it before. But if our constant bickering and crazy lives was ever going to be worth it, I needed to know.

"So … you actually want to do it?" Scorpius said, not looking at me. "You want to talk about the future …"

"And, y'know … stuff …"

"The future and stuff," Scorpius reiterated. "You know that this could potentially ruin everything?"

"Why d'you think I've never insisted on it until now?"

Scorpius just shook his head, looking like he'd much rather stick his head under a pillow and never come out. Until I poked him, of course, and he looked up. "Look, Rosie … yes. I want a future with you," he said bluntly and I felt my eyes widen. "I can imagine us getting married, staying together forever and having children. It's a little crazy and a lot insane, but I've seen what being married to a Weasley is like and I _want_ that. The loving family and the nutty holidays where everyone gathers in one house and unleash organised chaos. I never had that with my mum and dad."

"You _want_ to marry into a family of nutters?" I said in bewilderment.

"I … yeah," Scorpius shrugged, like it was no big deal. "You're it for me, Rose."

For several seconds, we just stared at each other. I was trying to figure him out, realise if he was actually being serious. Scorpius seemed to just want to shrivel up and die, judging by the look on his face, but I quickly changed that by leaning forward on my knees and kissing him fiercely.

I took him by surprise and by the time he figured out that he could kiss me back, I was pulling away, still kneeling with my hands around his neck.

"Er … what was that for?" he asked, looking dazed.

"I love you, too and I want to marry you," I said, leaning my forehead against his and grinning. Sensing his terrified silence, I added, "… _not now_, you idiot! But some day … as much as I hate you sometimes, you're it for me, too. Marriage and kids … I want that."

In answer, Scorpius just kissed me back. This continued for several moments in which I felt like I was flying. Despite our less than average relationship and the fact that my neck was still very red, we'd done something normal for once and hadn't screwed it up! I loved Scorpius for reasons unknown, but that love was actually enough and I was ecstatic. Uncaring that we were in the very public lounge, I shoved my hands under Scorpius's t-shirt, wanting to feel the skin that I might very well be married to someday.

"Ro – Rosie," he muttered in between kisses. "Don't you think we should … um … ah, move somewhere less conspicuous?"

"Nah," I pulled away for a moment and grabbed my wand off the coffee table. Flicking it, I locked the front door, which I had a feeling would confuse Al and Bea a lot; we stopped locking it about two weeks after we moved in. Then, I shoved Scorpius's shoulder and flung him down onto his back, chucking my wand back onto the coffee table and climbing onto his lap. "I'm comfy here. You?"

"Uh … I'm … what?"

"Comfy," I repeated. Smirking, I reached down and yanked off my own shirt, throwing it somewhere across the room. Scorpius's eyes widened at the sight. "Right here. Are you?"

"Oh, I'm _completely_ comfortable." Scorpius practically growled, before leaning up and yanking behind my head, kissing me.

Rose: 10, Scorpius: 8.

(He bared his soul first. I _so_ won).

* * *

(_I'll make his relationship work_)

(_Even if it means the end of mine_).

I ducked into the crowded _Café Julio_, shaking water out of my hair and glad to be out of the torrential downpour. On my way home from work, I got caught in the sudden rain and my first instinct had been to hide until it was over. The café was jam-packed and trying to find my older cousin proved difficult. James was a waiter here, but out of all the harried employees, my tall, messy-haired James was nowhere to be seen.

"Rosie!" someone called behind me and I turned to see Libby waving at me by the window. She was obviously on a break, wearing her uniform, but her apron was slung over the back of her chair. I had thought she was alone, but by the time I battled my way through all the people, it was to see that she was accompanied by Trevor.

"Trev!" I cried, throwing my arms around him. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"And whose fault is that?" Trevor laughed, hugging me back. "Brill to see you, too, Rosie."

"I'm so sorry, I would've dropped by more, but I've had _insane_ shifts at work, like twelve to fourteen hours at once!" I said, collapsing onto the arm of his chair, since there was no room anywhere else. "When I haven't been working, I've been sleeping!"

"Aw, don't worry," Trevor said. "We're all working our arses off. Eh, Lib?"

Libby rolled her eyes. "I've had to change my hours. He's driving me insane! I don't think I can handle it anymore."

"What're you on about?" I asked.

"Who d'you think?!" Libby cried. "Your cousin!"

"Ah. So James is still trying to get into your pants then?"

"He won't leave her alone, apparently," Trevor told me. "I only came in here for a coffee and I ended up being bombarded with the Crazy Life of Liberty Fletcher."

"He's always hitting on me!" Libby complained. "It's like with Creepy Howard! At least this time he was born in the same century."

"Well, there's your plus!" Trevor said cheerfully, but the look Libby gave him was clearly an un-amused one.

"Look, I know I'm hot and everything, but please! It's not like I'm misleading him! In fact, the last thing I said to him was, 'Back the hell off, or I'll punch you in the mouth'! That's not giving mixed messages, is it?"

"Er, I think you bypassed 'mixed messages' when you slept with him, Libby." I pointed out.

Libby just gave an exasperated groan. The idea of one of my good friends sleeping with my older cousin was faintly gross in my opinion and so it seemed to Libby as well. That morning she had stormed in with her ripped dress and carrying her shoes, she had forbidden us to even mention the one-night stand, let alone tease her for it. Since we apparently loved her so much, we agreed. But even I knew that James was just like his brother when it came to girls: thick as a troll. Al luckily had a girlfriend, but James and his idiot twin, Fred, had established a long time ago that they were going to be terminal bachelors together, 'living the high-life and scoring chicks' as they put it. James just doesn't _do_ love and relationships.

James disgusted Libby as a general rule, but unfortunately she had been horribly and severely drunk and therefore, the idea of sleeping with him suddenly became the best she'd ever had. The next morning had been another story entirely.

"I could try having a word with him," I told her. "But you know James …"

Libby just gave a garbled moan and buried her face in her hands. I snorted and turned to Trevor, who's brown hair was wet from the rain outside. He shook his head like a dog, throwing water everywhere and he reminded me so much of a little kid, that I could almost imagine that we were back at Hogwarts, sitting in the joint common room, waiting for Al, Bea, Jo and all of our old Hogwarts friends to join us.

"Hogwarts was so long ago, wasn't it?" I said.

"Tell me about it," Trevor answered. "Haven't seen Toby in months, like you. Been so busy with work and family … mind, I never expected to keep any of you guys as friends. Not that I don't love you," Trevor quickly added and I grinned. "But honestly, at Hogwarts they kept telling us, 'Oh, you'll keep in touch for a while after you leave, but sooner or later, everyone loses contact'."

"Yet, we still see each other and talk all the time."

"Exactly," Trevor grinned back at me. "And even though you're a bunch of crazy lunatics, I'm one too and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"With Libby despairing like this, I keep expecting her to crack out the secret stash of chocolate again, like sixth-year."

"Oi," Libby said, lifting her head. "I'm right here!"

"Ah, the good ol' days …" Trevor laughed.

"Yeah, back when James had nothing to do with our friend here and we all hated the Slytherin's," I said. "How is Harley, anyway? Not trying to pull a sick one again? She hasn't come into work all week."

To my surprise, Trevor just shrugged. "Dunno. Broke up. Haven't seen her in three weeks."

My eyes widened, but apparently this wasn't new to Libby, as she just snorted from her seat across from us. "Not _again_?" she said.

"Oi!" Trevor cut in. "It's not _my_ fault! _She_ dumped _me_!"

"And how many times have I heard _that_ before?"

"I'm sorry, I've clearly missed something!" I cried before they could continue. "I thought you'd sorted this out! You _broke up_? Multiple times? Exactly how many?"

"Uh … about three times this year, give or take?"

I couldn't believe this. "But you're perfect for each other! I mean, I want to strangle the girl most of the time, but you love her, don't you? She's your Olivia! Why did you break up?"

"Same reason she always dumps me," Trevor rolled his eyes. "'_She just needs some space_'."

"It's flipping bullshit." Libby said.

"Hell yes, it's bullshit!" I said. "What about you? Do _you_ need space?"

"That's the thing! No!" Trevor huffed into his chair, folding his arms. "Like you said, I love her! I mean, we've been going out since seventh-year! Granted we split up for a bit just after we left school, since she was living with her parents for a while and we didn't know if we'd be able to stay together, but then she got into the Healer programme and she moved into the same building, so I thought everything would be golden!"

"So what's wrong?"

Trevor sighed. "It's like … every time she starts getting too comfortable … too used to the idea of us being together, it's like she has to pull away in order for her to fall back in love with me. She'll break it off, claiming that she just can't handle it anymore and without fail, she comes crawling back in a few months, saying she misses me and that she can't live without me!"

"I told him that he should tell that girl where she can shove her pride." Libby shrugged.

"The thing is," Trevor said, clearly trying not to laugh at Libby's comment. "I'm still in love with her and whenever she comes back I take her back, because, well, I miss her too!" He leaned his head on his elbow. "It really is quite annoying."

"That's … quite a conundrum …" I pointed out. He gave me a look as if to say, _no flipping duh, Rosie_. "Have you ever tried talking to her about it?"

"Yeah. It was about as productive as talking to a brick wall."

"I said she probably needed time to figure out how to stop being such a cow." Libby added.

"A cow? I reckon she's being a conniving bitch!"

"Ah, there's the Rosie I love," Trevor said, throwing his arm around me from where I was still sat on the arm of his chair. "I knew you'd take my side!"

I shot him a look, but leaned into him anyway. The poor bloke had had his heart torn out and stomped on again and again and still, he kept going back, even though he knew he was only going to get hurt again. As much as I wanted to slap him and make him realise that he couldn't keep going on like this, I sort of admired the constant love he held for Lucy Harley. She may be a conniving bitch, but she was _his_ conniving bitch and she wouldn't be Harley otherwise.

"I'll talk to Scorpius," I told Trevor. "He's her best friend. Hopefully, he'll talk some sense into her."

"You'd do that?" Libby said in alarm.

"Yes – wait, why are you both looking at me like that?" I asked, pulling away and glancing at the two of them in concern. They both shared the look of someone standing and waiting for a bomb to go off.

"Um, Rosie, you may have forgotten, but whenever the topic of Lucy Harley comes up between you and Scorpius, there's a giant blow out and the two of you don't talk for several days." Libby said, gently as if she was trying to soften the blow.

I laughed. "Oh, come on! We … we don't do that!" I thought. "Er … right?"

I looked to Trevor, but he shook his head. "Sorry. You do."

Damn. It was something I'd never even noticed before. "Look, even if we always do end up fighting over it, I'll still talk to him. Your emotions are getting thrown about and crushed here. It's time Harley manned up and actually faced what she feels for you. She needs to figure out whether she's going to stick at it for the long-haul, or break it off completely."

Trevor gulped. "Actually, on second thoughts, maybe just forget it? At least this way, I know she'll come back eventually!"

"Yeah, but you're miserable in the meantime," Libby pointed out. "Face it, Trev, you're no fun when Harley's not in your life."

Trevor still didn't look convinced as Libby had to go back to work and I had to continue walking home once the rain had stopped. But I was determined. I loved Trevor heaps and I was going to make his relationship work, even if it meant the end of mine.

… er, that sounded far more dramatic that I meant it to be. Forget I said anything.

Rose: 11, Scorpius: 8.

(I've been a counsellor and a bloody good one at that. That and Harley is _Scorpius's_ friend, not mine).

* * *

(_You must be absolutely serious if you want to be a part of this family_)

(_Or perhaps just a little bit insane_).

"Right! Bets, people, place your bets!" Hugo was calling out and strolling between us. "C'mon, we don't have all day! Rosie! What's yours?"

"Ten Galleons on there being a screaming match." I said at once.

Hugo snorted. "That's a given. You've got to do better than that."

I huffed. I'd never been good at this game.

I was in mental preparing-mode. Al, James, Hugo and I had decided to gather together before the showdown that was about to happen; the event that would shake the very fabric of history, the moment that would destroy _everything_!

Granddad Arthur's birthday.

Yeah, ok, that might sound harmless to anyone else. But this was a _Weasley event_. You've never experienced true horror until you've been stuck in the same room as the entire Weasley family and it's various counterparts. Grandma Molly's birthday is normally worse; however, we managed to thankfully get through that one in one piece and I actually managed to make some money off that! Any Weasley event, Grandma Molly insists that _everyone_ has to come and that _any_ counterpart was welcome. We often used these moments to scare away crazy-stalker-ex's and, of course, to make money.

It was common for the cousins to place various bets on the different aspects of the event. The odds of Grandma Molly bursting into tears; the odds that Uncle George will show someone something disgusting; the odds that cousin Molly will bring home another boyfriend who is half her age; the odds that my mum will threaten to physically maim my father; I could honestly go on and on.

Apparently, a screaming match had become so mainstream, I couldn't use it as my standard bet anymore!

"Oh, I dunno, Hugo …" I said, casting about for ideas. I remembered the last boyfriend Molly brought home; he had been some Goth bloke who insisted that his screamer band was 'totally off in Japan, you know it, right?'. "Hang on, I've got one! I bet that one of the cousins will bring home an unsuspecting partner and that Grandma Molly will make them cry!"

"Ah …" Hugo looked suddenly uncomfortable. "Er, you sure?"

"What're you on about? Course I'm sure!" I said, eyeing him with suspicion. "Hang on … no … Hugo, _you're_ not bringing someone, are you?"

"Well, I _was_ until you said that!" he cried and James and Al burst into laughter.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it!" I tried to insist, but I couldn't hide my snigger. "I'm, er, sure she'll have the time of her life! It's not that girlfriend of yours, is it? Caroline something?"

"Caroline Winters," Hugo rolled his eyes. "And yes, it's her."

"I bet someone asks her if she's on some form of birth control within ten minutes of our arrival." James said at once.

"You're so on!" Al agreed, shaking his brother's hand.

"_Guys_!" Hugo cried. "I'm trying to go for _normal_ here?"

"Little brother, you're bringing her to Granddad's birthday," I pointed out for him. "Have you _met_ our family?"

"Yeah, ok, she's going to be terrified," Hugo sat down next to me in a huff, on my sofa. "But she keeps going on about how she wants to meet everyone. I keep advising her against it, but she just won't give it up!"

"She'll learn," I said, throwing an arm around my brother. "After this, she'll never want to meet them again. She'll probably never want to see _you_ again! No offence …"

Hugo just shot me a look. I really did have to feel sorry for my little brother. He was probably one of the more shoved back Weasley cousins. Not that we didn't love him any less, it was just that he led a significantly less dramatic life than _some of us_ that I could name. While he generally just acted like a goofy kid, he never did like the drama and the spotlight. This was going to be hell for him.

"Are Scorpius and Bea coming?" James asked Al and I.

We exchanged looks. "I think they've somehow figured out a system where each takes turns to suffer going to an event," Al said. "One makes up some excuse and the other covers their alibi. After that first time, I don't think they've ever gone to the same event again. This time, Bea claims she's working, so it's Scorpius's turn."

"Yeah, I've even confronted him about it and he didn't even answer," I rolled my eyes. "Either way, he's coming."

"Either way, I'm here," Scorpius said from the door of my flat. The four of us looked up to see him holding a helmet under his arm and a grimace on his face. "C'mon, let's get this over with."

* * *

"So what's the helmet again?" I asked Scorpius, ducking underneath Uncle Percy's arm.

"Last time at Christmas, I got pelted with nuts by _that_ kid!" He pointed out Teddy's two year old son, Max, who was giggling and already ripping open one of Granddad's presents. "I'm not taking any chances this time."

"Aw, c'mon, that's just Maxie," I said, laughing. "He doesn't mean any harm."

"Yeah, you could say the same about your Grandma," Scorpius pointed out. "She doesn't _mean_ harm, but that woman scares me to death!"

He had a point, so I let him keep wearing the helmet. The entire Burrow was absolutely jam-packed with my cousins and their wives/husbands/significant others; my aunties, uncles and their wives/husbands/significant others; and then my grandparents and significant adopted family. It was absolute mayhem.

Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur usually live near the coast, but they came especially for Granddad's birthday. Uncle Bill was currently trying to talk to Uncle Charlie; however, I say tried, since 18-year-old Roxanne was hanging off her uncle's sleeve like she was five, insisting that she was hungry. Uncle Charlie was telling a dragon story with enthusiasm, waving his arms in the air.

Teddy and Victoire were being their ever nauseous selves, Victoire cooing over her son and Teddy cooing over her. I loved them both dearly, but man, there was a time and a place. Dominique, who we usually just call Domi, was telling anyone who would listen about her new catering business and how she was earning millions (probably a slight exaggeration). Lucy was sitting in the middle of the sofa next to her new husband, both of them trying to read the same book while James quickly ran off to aid Fred in playing catch with a water balloon over their heads. I love Lucy; she never changes and her husband, Michael, was practically a male version of her.

My parents were already here, bickering away in the corner while Uncle Harry tried to placate them without fail. Auntie Ginny was screaming from the kitchen where most of the women of the family (and Louis, who for some reason loved baking) were trying to make the food edible for Granddad's birthday. Apparently, there was some flour-related emergency happening.

Granddad himself was tottering around, trying to greet everyone and pretending that he could actually hear everyone, since he was pretty much completely deaf now. Hugo and his girlfriend, Caroline, were standing off to one side, having tried to hide almost as soon as we got here. Caroline was a pretty girl with golden curls and she held Hugo's hand so tight, it looked like she was going to rip it off pretty soon. I could tell she was particularly avoiding our mother. Hermione Weasley may not look like much, but god help you if you got on her bad side.

To top off the chaos, Grandma Molly was busy screaming bloody murder.

"Dominique, darling, please go help your mother in the kitchen!" she was yelling. "FRED WEASLEY! You give me that balloon right now _and don't throw it at me_!" Fred visibly wilted; Grandma had clearly been through this enough times to make her orders specific. Unfortunately, at his distraction, he missed the balloon James had thrown back to him and it exploded over Lucy and Michael's heads. They started screaming and yelling, which of course meant Grandma had to get in on the action; she really can move for a woman in in her late seventies.

There really are a shit-load of people in this house.

"So what was your bet for this event?" Scorpius asked me as we bravely ventured further into the battle-zone … er, I mean the lounge.

"That Grandma Molly will make Caroline cry," I said, shrugging. "She looks like she's about to piss her pants, so I'm guessing it's only a matter of time."

"Man, one of these days I really should get in on the betting pool …" Scorpius muttered, glancing around. "I reckon I could make some serious money."

I gave him a hard look. "Only official members of the Weasley family are allowed, according to James."

"What, and I'm not official?"

I laughed. "Give it a couple more years and we'll see."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So long as I don't have to talk to your–"

"Rosie!" Dad cried, finally battling his way over to me and practically shoving Scorpius out of the way so he could hug me. Despite how sorry I felt for my poor boyfriend, I really did love my dad, so I squeezed him tight. "How're you, my girl?"

"Brilliant, Dad," I managed to get out. "What're you and Mum rowing about today?"

Dad gave me a look as Mum came and wrapped her arms around me, too. "We aren't _rowing_, Rosie," she insisted. "We're having a heated debate."

"She wanted to take all the credit for your Granddad's birthday present," Dad pointed out and I grinned. "Might have been her idea, but I wrapped the damn thing!"

I tried not to laugh as Mum shot him an exasperated look that we all knew well. Mum then turned to the neglected Scorpius, who was slowing trying to slink away through the crowd; unfortunately for him, he was too slow. "Scorpius, dear, how are you?"

"Oh," Scorpius reluctantly turned around and gave a grin which I knew meant that he was actually scared out of his mind. "Um, fine, Mrs Weasley. Thanks. And you?"

"Oh, lovely," Mum said. "I also see that you got that trial report in early! I like people who are punctual. Keep it up and I might just have to promote you!"

"Ah," Scorpius gave a hasty smile. "I mean, thanks! Yeah, I hate getting in stuff late …"

I snorted and quickly tried to turn it into a hacking cough when the three turned to stare at me. Scorpius had been staying up all night the past week to get it in early because, and I quote, 'Your mother terrifies the bloody hell out of me!'

My dad wasn't being nearly as sweet during this exchange. He stood next to my mother, huffing every now and then with his arms folded. Dad had made it perfectly clear that he did not like Scorpius from day one and don't even get me _started_ on what he was like when we started going out. The only reason he put up with him, I knew, was because he knew how much I loved him, despite the fact that he could be a 'complete wanker' sometimes (as my dad put it).

But, well, that's my dad and his unreasonable-ness was one of the things I loved about him.

"So you're still working in Hermione's department then, yeah?" he said, raising an eyebrow at Scorpius.

"Er, yes," Scorpius eyed him warily, instinctively trying to duck behind me. "Muggle Relations … it's great!"

"Hmm. You said that last time," Dad pointed out and I wanted to whack my forehead. "Although, if you ask me, I'm still waiting for the relapse–"

"Dad!" I cut in, before he could keep going on and cause yet another argument. "Look! Auntie Fleur's got savouries!"

I swear, my dad actually went, "Ooh! Fleur! Save me one!" and leapt over someone's discarded broomstick to reach them. My dad might be one of the best Aurors in the department, but his stomach will always be his downfall.

Scorpius let out a breath I hadn't even realised he'd been holding. "That man terrifies me." he said, bluntly.

"When you've been married to him for over 20 years, you get used to it," my mum said, fondly. "Now! I want to know all about my favourite daughter! What have you been up to?"

"Oh, trust me, Mum, you don't want to know about me," I said, gesturing to Hugo. "It's my little brother's turn to cause drama!"

Confused, she turned to see Hugo and Caroline talking to Uncle Percy. Hugo looked bored out of his mind, but I'm pretty sure Caroline was just pretending for her own sake, if not Hugo's. Mum's eyes went wide.

"That's not the infamous Caroline we've been hearing about, is it?" Mum asked in amazement.

"Oh, you bet it is!" I said, happily. "I fully give you permission to unleash Grandma on her!"

Mum glanced at me with a frown. "You and your cousins aren't betting again, are you?" she asked, suspiciously.

"N-no," I coughed hastily as Scorpius smirked at me. "We gave that up _years_ ago …"

* * *

It wasn't until near the end of the dinner when I started to lose hope about winning. Everything seemed perfect up until then! Even Hugo was petrified of his own family and kept blushing every five seconds when someone would do something embarrassing. I think he was half-expecting Caroline to leap out the window in an attempt to escape. She'd been questioned by nearly every family member on every topic imaginable: her exam results at Hogwarts, her ex-boyfriends dating back to the past five years, why she'd decided to buy a tea shop a year ago instead of getting a respectful job at the Ministry, how many babies she wanted and yes, what kind of birth control she was on (though thankfully, since it had been more than ten minutes, James didn't win that bet). But so far, she'd managed to hold up, even under Mum's interrogation and my mum puts Muggle killers behind bars in Azkaban for a living.

"Damn it," I grumbled into my pudding. "I'm going to owe Hugo and he's going to mock me the rest of the year!"

"There are still the hot chocolates to go, Rosie," Al pointed out next to me. "You've got a chance."

"Easy for you to say, you've already won!"

"Yeah, well," Al grinned at me, bits of carrot still stuck between his teeth. "Put Max in the same room as a wand and there was bound to be some sort of medical catastrophe."

I rolled my eyes. Caroline was currently down the other end of the huge, magically expanded dining table, next to Hugo and Auntie Audrey, opposite Grandma Molly. Our family matriarch was pretty much the last person to interrogate her and Grandma Molly was well known for her stands against potential Weasley's. Caroline was right to look rather nervous. I couldn't hear what they were saying, thanks to all the noise, but at one point, a question almost made her choke on her ice cream.

"Y'know what, Rosie?" Scorpius said from my other side, watching my brother's girlfriend cough. "I might not be able to get in on the official pool, but I'll personally bet you five Galleons that Caroline leaves this house without shedding one tear."

I glanced over. Caroline _had_ to crack any moment now. "Y'know what?" I turned to Scorpius with a grin before shaking his hand. "You're on!"

"I miss my sister," Al said, wistfully. "She was always brilliant at guessing exactly what was going to happen …"

I understood Al's sadness. Lily had still been travelling ever since she'd left Hogwarts and jetted off to Brazil. I've already received several key-rings from her, the latest being a tiny Statue of Liberty from New York. Auntie Ginny had tried to convince her wandering daughter to come back home for Granddad's birthday, but the mistake she made was sending it herself; if it's from her mother, Lily ignores it completely, but all Auntie Ginny had to do was get Grandma's name on the bloody thing and Lily would have been home within three seconds.

Suddenly, there was another commotion at the other end of the table. Caroline shrieked, standing up as an entire bowl of ice cream got dumped onto her lap by Max as he ran through legs under the table. As Teddy ducked down to call out to his son, Grandma Molly just giggled to herself.

"Grandma, would you please stop _laughing_?" Hugo said, exasperatedly.

"Oh, dearie, I'm just having a bit of a giggle," she said, eyeing Caroline with keen interest. "You have to keep up in this family, darling!" she added to Caroline. "Otherwise, who knows what else you'll get covered in."

Caroline stared in bewilderment at Grandma Molly. "You don't like me." she said, bluntly.

"Oh, no, darling! What makes you think that?" Grandma Molly said at once, though she averted her eyes. Typical Grandma, still polite as ever, even to those she can't stand. She'll be offering to make her tea and give her a tour of the house soon.

"Because I _saw_ you ask your great-grandson to come and throw his ice cream all over me!" Caroline said, hardly caring about said ice cream staining her skirt. Teddy had managed to grab hold of his son and was how holding him behind the table, watching with keen interest. "You whispered to him, just now!"

"Did I?" Grandma Molly just smiled. "I'm sorry, dear, my eyes aren't as good as they once were. So don't tell me, you'll be leaving then?"

"Damn it, she did it!" Fred muttered as Molly punched the air. "Grandma made her stand against Caroline! Can't believe I lost that …"

Hugo knew that he couldn't interfere with this. With every potential partner, Grandma Molly had made it her personal duty to make sure that they knew _exactly_ what they were getting themselves into. No one was ever going to be good enough for her babies, but it wasn't for the lack of trying to find that someone. I could remember her stand against Scorpius all too well and I'm pretty sure Scorpius was busy reliving the vivid nightmare alongside me. Without getting into details, it involved a baseball bat and a lot of hot sauce. Somehow, he had passed.

Caroline looked like she could hardly believe her eyes, that this seemingly harmless old woman could be so vindictive in the name of protecting her family. She had flopped into her seat in shock, Hugo burying his face in his hands next to her. Just when I thought Caroline was about to bawl and that the tension in the room was going to make everyone's heads blow up, she suddenly stood to her feet once more.

"No!" she cried, her voice clearly with a hint of fear still it in, yet she ploughed on. "I will _not_ leave! You listen, you – er, Mrs Weasley–" Caroline hastily added. She's still our grandma after all. "–er, well I'm staying right here, all right? Because I love your grandson–"

"–you _what_?" Hugo's face suddenly snapped up, all the colour draining.

"–and nothing you say is going to change that! You can try and drive me out of your house all you like, but the truth is that I'm just going to keep coming back! You lot are absolutely _insane_!" She yelled that down the entire and completely silent table. "But I am an only child and this has been the best birthday party I've ever been to! _So there_!" she yelled back at Grandma Molly, whose eyebrows had risen so high, they had disappeared underneath her white hair.

For a while, absolutely nothing happened. Then, Grandma Molly smiled and Caroline visibly relaxed with relief. "Well done, Caroline Winters," she said, gently. "We might just make a Weasley out of you."

Hugo simply stood from his chair, before yanking on his girlfriend's head and kissing her fiercely in front of everyone. He didn't even seem to care that James sent out a rather loud wolf-whistle and that my mother was blushing with embarrassment. In fact, when he finally pulled away, it was tell Caroline,

"_I love you, too_."

"Oh, you've got to be bloody kidding me!" I yelled in frustration. "No crying _at all_? Give me a break here!"

Conclusion to my third year out of Hogwarts: 

-If you want to make it as a Weasley, you'd better be in it for the long-haul, because this is one _hell_ of a family.

-Don't have sex with James. Just … no.

-Having awkward talks about the future seriously live up to their name; _they are awkward_.

-But I think they're also kind of worth it.

Rose: 11, Scorpius: 9.

(No matter which way I try and spin it, I really did lose that one).

* * *

A/N: I apologise if there are any obvious typing errors in this, I'm afraid I'm rather sick at the moment and I don't have the strength to read the entire thing again. I promise to fix any at a later date.

So, the third year out of Hogwarts! Not really much to explain about this one. Just that yes, Caroline Winters is the girl Hugo managed to get a dance with at the Christmas Ball back in GIR. He had a different girlfriend in the epilogue, but now Caroline is back for the long-haul. :)

Also, thank you for being understanding about the length! I swear, it won't _all_ be this long and I'm glad that the length of these chapters and interesting, rather than boring.

Thank you for your support so far! Remember, reviews are seriously appreciated, since they tell me what I'm doing well and what I need to work on. I want to make CGIR the best it can be!

Thanks again, until next time -

- Moon. :D


	5. The Fourth One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, sort-of moments, angst, jealousy or Christmas.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 4: The Fourth One

(_My fourth year out of Hogwarts, 2027_).

(_Girly times with Bea_)

(_Never get enough of this_).

"Bea," I said. "Did you know that it's been four years today that we've been living here together?"

"Really?" Bea attempted to sit up from where we were currently snuggled up in bed together. "Good god, how did we manage that without burning the place down or driving each other mad?"

"No idea!" I said, honestly. Bea and I were currently having one of our 'Rosie and Bea' days, where we would lock the front door for a change, wear our pyjamas all day and never get out of bed, painting our nails and gossiping about everything. Since we also had study, work, our relationships and family to consider, there could be times where we wouldn't even see each other for weeks on end, despite the fact that we lived together. This was the time we would fix that.

"I guess, yeah, it was about this time, wasn't it?" Bea mused, leaning on my shoulder. Her blond curls tickled my face. "I'd just started working at _Witch Weekly_ and you still had no idea what you were going to do with your life!"

"Ah, those were the good ol' times," I laughed. "I can't imagine what might've happened if Al hadn't cracked his head open! I might never have gotten into the Healer programme."

"You've only got two more years to go!" Bea agreed, excitedly. "I know you'll get one of the positions, of course you will!"

I snorted. Today had been our first day back after a short term break from study and work. While I'd loved seeing all my friends again, the vultures were still out on the prowl and tension had ripped through the staff room when we noticed that one of the girls hadn't been asked back this year. She had gone through three years of training and come out with nothing.

"Eh, well, if the vultures do get all the positions and I end up getting kicked out, you'll just have to promise that you'll never betray me and go to St Mungo's, won't you?" I said.

"What if I'm dying?"

"I've been a trainee Healer for three years!" I said, elbowing her in the side and she squealed. "I think I know a thing or two!"

"Sorry, but the idea of you poking your wand inside my body kind of disturbs me."

I considered. "Fair point."

"So you got any gossip, then?" Bea asked, eyes sparkling. "You know how I love to hear the tales of the trainee Healers! The bitch fights, the romantic trysts, it sounds like a good drama show …"

"Actually, speaking of romantic trysts," I said. "I thought there was going to be hell today with Gerald and Ally."

"Oh, god." Bea's eyes went wide.

"You remember then, yes?" I laughed.

"You're not telling me that Ally actually _told _Gerald how she felt before the break?"

I nodded, grinning. "She told him! I didn't find out until today, when she told me all about it. I must have an innate sense of disastors because for some reason, I was so certain that something was going to go pear-shaped! Sure enough, she and Gerald wouldn't even look each other in the eye. The story is that apparently after our last shift two weeks ago, she went and confessed _everything_ to him!"

"Little, sweet Ally _said_ that?" Bea asked in astonishment. "This _is_ the girl who's afraid of ghosts and can read about three novels in one day, right?"

"Oh, you're right," I said. "I was shocked, too. I never figured that she would actually _do_ it! But apparently, he didn't say anything back, just went all high-pitched and squeaky."

"Gee, I wonder who taught him that."

I narrowed my eyes at my best friend. "Funny, Ally said that too, only not quite so sarcastic. _I_ don't do that … right?"

"Rosie, have you _heard_ yourself?" Bea rolled her eyes at me. "Only two weeks ago, you were squeaking, 'I'm fine! No really, I'm fine!' when Al asked you if you were ok about your exams!"

"Yeah, well, that's exams, that's different," I said. "Anyway, Gerald apparently just up and ignored her ever since our last shift and now, they won't even speak to each other. I don't know what to do, I mean, it's obvious that Gerald's in love with her, but he won't _say_ anything!"

"He might not be ready to," Bea shrugged. "They've known each other for a while and he's probably never let himself think of her any more than just as a friend up until now. Most likely, he's shocked out of his mind."

"Is _this_ what it's like to have to watch two idiots who are clearly meant to be together, skirt around the issue and never get anything right?" I mused out loud. "God, it's annoying."

"Yeah, can't tell you how glad I am that I had no idea about you and Scorpius," Bea laughed. "Now that would have been hell!"

"Watching you and Al pretending to not be interested in each other wasn't a picnic, I can tell you that." I pointed out.

"I swear, I wasn't that obvious!" Bea insisted.

"Bea," I said. "Scorpius and I had been betting on you since third-year. Trust me, you were obvious."

"Hmpft," Bea just reached up for more chocolaty snacks. "I wish he'd be obvious now."

"What d'you mean?"

Bea rolled his eyes. "You know how Al goes all jumpy when he's nervous? Yesterday I just called his name and he practically threw his cereal across the kitchen! He's worried about something, but he won't _talk_ to me. I'm getting kind of sick of it …"

"Yeah, I'd noticed that," I thought back to earlier today. "This morning I asked him if he was all right and he said 'fine' fifteen times. That's not exactly normal, even for my cousin."

"D'you know what's wrong with him?" Bea asked. Worry was clearly etched in every line of her face. Sometimes, when the three of us would just hang out together, I often forgot that Al and Bea were even a couple. They acted so much like best friends, except for the whole kissing part, that it was easy to just pretend we were back at Hogwarts. But soon enough, I would see the love in their faces and knew that they'd always be perfect for each other.

"I have no idea," I admitted. "But I'll honestly do anything to find out, Bea."

"Thanks." Bea gave me a smile.

"Besides," I shrugged. "It's probably just something stupid, like he tried to do your washing, but one of your bras accidentally got eaten in the washing machine."

Bea rolled her eyes. "Oh, c'mon, _honestly_."

"What? It's a perfectly reasonable excuse for him to freak out!"

"Well, I was thinking more along the lines like he's gotten himself into some sort of trouble, or Scorpius has and that Al is protecting him or something."

"Oh, please, Scorpius is totally fine–"

I was cut off by my bedroom door banging open. Bea and I both jumped and it was no wonder, considering that we had locked all the doors. But Scorpius Malfoy had somehow managed to get through, now standing in the doorway and staring at me. I knew something was wrong straight away; the letter in his hands and the tears pouring down his face were kind of a giveaway.

"What–?" Bea began.

"R-Rosie," Scorpius said, thickly. "I … it's my mum."

Oh, _shit_.

"–_fine_. He's totally fine." I said, weakly.

Rose: 12, Scorpius: 9.

(No matter what's happened, he's the one crying).

* * *

(_I …_)

(_I'm sorry, I just can't describe this one_).

The day of the funeral, Scorpius went missing.

I never knew much about Astoria Malfoy. Yes, I'd met her before, liked her even for accepting mine and Scorpius's relationship without question (well, much question). Her death was so sudden that I don't think it had really registered with me yet. Apparently she'd gone to bed early, feeling absolutely fine, just a little tired. Draco Malfoy had to work a night shift soon after. When he'd got back at seven in the morning, she was dead.

A part of our Healer training was working in the morgue, though I'd never had any interest in being surrounded by dead bodies. For Astoria, I made an exception. I had been one of the firsts to realise what killed her and had to break it to Scorpius and his father that it was something inborn and genetic in the brain. Something that was going to happen sooner or later and something that magic couldn't fix. Astoria hadn't even known and at a far too young age, she was now dead because of it.

I knew that Scorpius had always been close to his mum, much like Dad and I were so close. He'd been an absolute wreck the past couple of days, helping his dad organise the funeral and barely sleeping. Ever since that first moment, though, when he had told me what had happened, he hadn't let himself cry once. He had been about to snap and so, when it was time to head out for the funeral, I hadn't exactly been surprised to find that he'd disappeared.

"I don't know, Rosie!" Al cried, looking just as astonished as Bea, both looking sombre and depressing in their black dress robes. "I swear, I just nipped to the loo before Bea got here and when I came out, he was gone!"

"I never even saw him in the hallway," Bea added, fearfully. "I've got no idea where he might have gone!"

"Oh, shit …" I muttered, tugging on the roots of my hair. "Look, we have to be at the church in fifteen minutes! You two just go, tell Mr Malfoy I'm trying to find him. He might be able to shed some light as to where he went."

"But you have no idea where the hell he is!" Al pointed out as I grabbed my bag and headed for the door. "Rosie, where're you supposed to start?"

"I have a feeling."

* * *

As it turns out, my feeling was correct. Unfortunately, I was a bit late in downplaying the drama.

"R-Rosie!" Scorpius warbled the second I entered his parents' bedroom. "Y-you found me! Oh, that's great, that's marvellous, that's the Rosie I know and love …"

"… you're bloody plastered, aren't you?" I said, bluntly from the doorway. I leaned against the frame, folding my arms as Scorpius sat in the middle of his parents' bed, a half-empty bottle of cheap wine in his hand and his eyes red and swollen.

"Oh, Rosie, don't rain on my parade!"

"Scorpius!" I hissed, stalking forward and talking the wine from him. "The funeral is in ten minutes and you're sitting here, _drinking_! Think about your dad, he needs you today!"

"Ah, y'know what?" Scorpius just waved a hand as he tried to batter me away. Supressing the want to strangle him, I straightened to hastily place the wine on the bedside table. "You just don't get it … not at all, you hear me? You don't get it at all! Mum would _want_ me to drink to her memory!"

"Maybe, but I don't think she'd approve of you drinking so much that you forget her all together." I pointed out. Scorpius didn't answer as I gave up trying to get him to stand and just sat down next to him. He had his arms around his knees and seemed to be staring into space. I'd never seen him like this before. Being a crying blubbering mess … god knows that I'd done my fair share of crying in front of him. I specifically remembered a time in fifth-year where he had comforted me in the broken Owlery, despite the owl poo we'd been sitting in and the awkward tension there had been between us at that point. But a situation where the roles were reversed …

Scorpius was the strong one. Scorpius didn't lose control. He was calm and collected, to the point of being cocky and arrogant. I often hated his ability to keep calm, even when he was upset. Seeing him going out on a bender like this scared me.

"Scorpius …" I said, quietly. "Getting trolleyed and hiding away isn't the way to deal with this."

"How would you know?" he muttered. "_Your_ mum is alive."

"Yes, and I count myself lucky every day that she is!" I placed a hand on his shoulder tightly. "You need to do the same for the rest of your family. You've still got your dad. You've still got Al and Bea. You've still got _me_. Yes, it sucks, it hurts and it feels like someone's torn out a piece of your heart, but the world doesn't end just because a bastard called fate decided to take your mum away from you."

Scorpius didn't say anything for a long moment. Eventually he sniffed, wiping a sleeve across his face before shrugging out from under my hand. "It doesn't work like that," he told me, eyes still slightly unfocussed thanks to the wine. "I … I can't just _turn off_ what I feel!"

"Scorpius–"

"It's like when I fell in love with you, yeah?" Scorpius gestured to me with a hand. "Remember? We _hated_ each other! I never wanted to love you, but I couldn't shut down what I felt. Now look at us …" He glanced away, refusing to meet my eye. "I'm never going to see her again."

"We … look, we haven't even made it to the funeral yet," I said, weakly. "You're still trying to understand it. Just come with me and you'll get a chance to say … g-goodbye–"

"Goodbye?!" Scorpius suddenly looked angry. "I don't _want_ to say goodbye! I don't ever want to have to say goodbye to _anyone_! Just leave it, Rosie!"

"I want to help you–!"

"THEN STOP!" Scorpius practically screamed at me and I was so shocked that I nearly fell off the bed. "You – you always want to _help_! Make things _better_, because you're Healer Rose Weasley and that's just what you do! But sometimes, your prodding and poking _doesn't_ help! You screw up everything!"

"You …" I did my best to try and stop the stinging behind my eyes. "Look, you've been drinking and you're not thinking straight. Just, come on–"

"No!" Scorpius yanked his hand back from where I tried to take it. "Leave me alone, Rose!"

"If you think I'm going to just abandon you in this state, you've got another thing coming!"

"I don't _need_ looking after! My mum did that, but she's not here anymore, so I just have to learn to look after myself!" Scorpius insisted, struggling backwards away from me. I gave up trying to reach him. "My dad's the one who needs looking after and helping, he's a bloody train wreck!"

"… and you think you look any better?" I said quietly. Scorpius just refused to look at me, his mouth opening and closing as he clearly tried to come up with an answer. "Scorpius, it's ok to be … scared," I never thought I would ever use that word in relation to Scorpius Malfoy, but it's happened. In the space of a few days, he'd gone from the strong, slightly irritating boyfriend I'd known since we were eleven, to a scared child who just wanted his mummy to come and protect him. "I promise … I'll look after you …" He didn't answer. "Please, Scorpius, you're really starting to scare me …"

"You wanna drink?" Scorpius snorted in what could have almost been a joke, though that was impossible since I don't think he's smiled ever since his mum died. He raised his hand, only to just realise that I'd taken the wine off him. "Heeeeey!"

"I'm fine, I don't need alcohol and neither do you," I said, firmly. "C'mon–"

"No, Rosie!" Scorpius insisted, fighting me off. "I told you, I'm not coming!"

"Scorpius, if you don't go, you'll regret it the rest of your life!" I cried in exasperation. "What would Astoria think if her own son didn't attend her funeral, just because he was being stubborn and scared to accept the reality of what's happened?"

"Don't you talk about her like that!" Scorpius yelled at me. "Like she's – she's – alive! It's not fair, I'll never know what she thinks again!"

"Of course it's not bloody _fair_, Scorpius!" I yelled back. "When has death _ever_ been fair?! My uncle died before I was even born and I never even got a chance to meet him! Uncle George is apparently just a shadow of the man he once was and I'll _never_ get to see the real him! Do you think _that's_ fair?"

"Just drop it, Rose!" Scorpius insisted. "You don't understand!"

"I understand a bit more than you think!"

"Oh, yeah?!" Scorpius's entire face had gone red now from trying to hold back his tears. If he kept going like this, he was going to explode. "You think you know exactly what's killing me, here? Exactly what's going through my head?"

"Well, obviously not _exactly_, but–"

"Then just SHUT UP, Rose!" he yelled. "Go away and leave me alone!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "I'll never know what you're feeling if you don't _tell_ me!" I said. "If you want me to understand, then just _say_ what's making you act like this, making you hide from your own mother's funeral!" Silence. I continued, "I'm not going to shut up until–"

"WHAT IF _YOU_ DIE?!" Scorpius suddenly roared at me.

We stared at each other for quite some time. My eyes had widened, unsure if I'd really just heard that. Then, Scorpius glanced away, staring at his knees again. "What if – what if you die, Rosie?" he said again, his voice breaking. "What will I have then? I'll have nothing. When my mum died, she ripped out a piece of my heart, but if you die … you'd rip out everything that's left."

I was left in a stunned silence for a moment. I had never even considered the idea. I stared at him in shocked as he said, "I just … I can't go the funeral. If I just stay here, it's like nothing ever happened."

After another moment, I finally found my voice again. "Scorpius …" I said, softly. I moved over until I was right next to him again. He didn't move or look up and didn't protest when I gently placed a hand to his chin to make him look at me. "I will promise you that I will _not_ die on you. Not for the next 24 hours at least. Please–"

"You can't promise that," Scorpius muttered. "Please don't promise that."

"I will because I'm not leaving you!" I insisted. "Scorpius – no, look at me! It's ok! I know you miss your mum and it's made you doubt so much, but don't you _ever_ doubt me! Even if I did die, I would just come back as a ghost and haunt you," I tried to crack a joke, but he didn't smile. Right, not the time, Rosie. "You're hurting and I get that, but you have to let go of this insane idea that I'm about to drop dead any second! If you don't, it's only going to hurt more!"

"I can't–"

"You _can_." Scorpius tried to back away from me again on his knees, but I wasn't going to let him this time. Instead, I climbed to my own knees and threw my arms around his waist. He struggled against me, trying to get me to let him go.

"Rosie …" he whispered, voice catching as he feebly tugged at my arms. I just shut my eyes tight and buried my face in his chest. "No …"

"It'll be all right," I found myself whispering back. "I love you, Scorpius and I'm here for you. It'll be all right …"

Finally, eventually, Scorpius gave in. His tugging on my arms turned into him holding them tightly as he shuddered, unable to stop the tears from falling. Both on our knees, I let him throw his arms around my neck, tightly. His sobs shook both our bodies and I found myself crying with him as he soaked my hair and shoulder. It felt like he'd never let me go again and that was fine with me.

Rose: 12, Scorpius: 9.

(I just can't give points for this. We did make it to the funeral eventually, though).

* * *

(_Rings, bacon and sleepy time_)

(_Never a dull moment in the life of Rose Weasley_).

"Hey, Al," I called the second I got through his front door. "You home?"

"Kitchen!"

I threw my bag on the floor and likewise dumped my Healer-robe over a chair as I moved to the kitchen. Sure enough, my cousin was cooking what looked like bacon and eggs, wearing the frilly, pink apron that Bea had brought him for his last birthday. Having just got home from a twelve hour nightshift, it was pretty much as close to heaven as I could get.

"Oh, that smells _gorgeous_," I moaned, collapsing at the kitchen table. "Any chance I could get some?"

"You been working all night?" Al asked me with a grin.

"In the accidents department," I nodded. "New cycle started at the beginning of December. I've been due on the ground floor for ages now and I was afraid that they were going to put me on maternity again! Thank the lord I wasn't …"

"Yeah, let's leave the babies to the Healers who won't keel over at the sight."

"To be fair, I had a splitting headache from all the screaming and I still passed." I pointed out as my cousin rolled his eyes and just waved his wand, sending a plate of still steaming food flying through the air and landing in front of me. I immediately started stuffing my face. "Oh, godddddd …" I moaned through a mouth full of food. "Al, I love you!"

"At least chew it, Rosie," Al snorted. "You're going to choke!"

"You didn't make this all for yourself, did you?" I asked around the bacon. "Oh! Of course, it's almost your and Bea's anniversary, isn't it? Breakfast in bed, nice touch."

"What?" Al's hand jerked and as a result, he sent the bacon he'd been flipping flying at my head. I had to almost throw myself out of my chair to not be hit. "N-no! Bea's not here, she's gone to work, actually …"

"Merlin! What the hell?" I pulled myself up from my chair with a raised eyebrow. "Trust me, Al, I remember when your anniversary is, I was _there_ when you got together. What's the matter with you? You've been acting like this for a good two months now!"

"Rosie, I'm fine–"

"Al," I cut him off, reluctantly abandoning my food to approach him. I moved the frying pan off the oven and took the spatula out of his hands so I could make him look at me properly. "You're _not_ fine. You're being _weird_."

"Weird is a debatable term." Al pointed out.

"Then what would you prefer?" I asked him. "Crazy? Flippy? Paranoid? 'cause whatever it is, it's sure as hell not normal."

"I …" Al stared at his feet.

"Oi," I punched him on the arm. "It's _me_. We've been together since we were born. You can tell me anything, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," Al glanced up and sighed. "Rosie, it's nothing _bad_ … I've just been a bit nervous lately. D'you … d'you remember the day I picked you up from work and we walked back home together back in October?" I nodded, wondering where on earth this was going. "Well, we walked past that jewellery store and you just _had_ to stop and stare at the window and you were going on and on about all the pretty sparkling stuff …"

"Ahem."

"Ah, yes, anyway," Al hastily continued at my obvious cough to get moving with the story. "There was one thing you pointed out that you said Bea would absolutely love … so …"

I swear my eyes just about popped out of their sockets. "You _didn't_?" I said in astonishment.

Al shrugged, his face starting to go red. "Erm, yeah," he muttered. "I sort of … did. I went back and got it?"

He reached down into his pocket and pulled out the box I'd seen in the window and had gushed that it would suit Bea perfectly. I hadn't even realised I'd put ideas into my cousin's head! Sure enough, he opened it to show me the most gorgeous diamond ring ever.

"… _holy shit_." I said, shocked.

"I've been so bloody 'paranoid' as you put it," Al said, face completely red now. "'cause I've been dragging _this_ around with me for two months."

"Geez … good Merlin, Al, you don't do things halfway!" I said, yanking the ring out of his hand to get a closer look. "I had no idea you were even _considering_ marriage! You're actually going to do it? You're going to propose to Bea?!"

"That's sort of the idea," Al rolled his eyes at me. "And would you stop waving it around like that? Knowing you, it'll go flying into the eggs and she'll accidentally choke on it!"

"Oh, Al!" I couldn't contain my excitement anymore. I threw my arms around his neck, still clutching the ring in my hand. "This is bloody AMAZING! You're going to get MARRIED!"

"Steady on!" Al had cried, since I'd nearly made him accidentally knock the frying pan from the force of my excitement. However, he still hugged me back tightly. "… thanks, Rosie. You've got no idea what it means of have you flipping out and throwing yourself all over me like this."

"You're welcome!" I said, completely forgetting about my tiredness for the time being. I pulled back so I could grin at my cousin and hand him his ring back. "I'm so happy for you, Al! Hang on …" I thought for a second. "If you've had this for two months now, why the heck haven't you asked her yet?"

Al huffed, turning to lean against the kitchen bench, the frying pan behind him. "I was going to," he insisted. "I was just working up the courage! I had it all planned out, take her out to dinner, ask her over some wine, but I had some trouble getting reservations. Then, just when I thought I had enough bravery to actually ask her the damn question, y'know," He shot me a grimace. "Scorpius's mum …"

"Oh," I copied my cousin's stance next to him. "Right. Fair enough."

Astoria Malfoy passing away had sent a lot of things out of whack, as far as our lives were concerned. Scorpius had taken as much time as he was allowed off work, but he'd been forced back into the office pretty quickly. Any time I wasn't working, I was with Scorpius, just generally being an idiot and trying to take his mind off it. Al spent his entire time baking and cleaning the flat, looking after his best mate while Bea could often get Scorpius to talk to her. We'd all been going flat out and finally, Christmas was next week. Al and Bea got the entire week surrounding it off, whereas I would be working right up until Christmas Eve. Scorpius was pretty much the same and had been trying to convince me to come spend Christmas this year with his family.

"… how's he doing?" I asked him quietly.

Al shrugged. "Y'know. Ok, I guess. He acts ok whenever I'm around, but I still don't think he's sleeping properly."

"Where is he now?"

"Still in bed, I think," Al told me. "Came home when you went to work for the night and was still awake when I went to bed around eleven."

"I'll go check on him, I seriously need some sleep anyway," I said, heaving myself upright and heading for his room. Just as I was about to leave the kitchen, I turned back to my cousin. "Hey. I really am happy for you," I said. "And if you don't do it soon, I'm going to come and give you a good kick up the backside."

Al grinned. "Love you, too, Rosie."

Scorpius had always been the one who loved his sleep, so it wasn't unusual to see him still in bed at nine in the morning. However, I knew him so well now that I could tell that his sleep hadn't been restful. The duvet was a huddled lump on top of his head and all I could see were his legs sticking out the bottom, caught up in the sheets. Rolling my eyes, I pulled the sheets off him and straightened out the duvet until his messy blond hair popped up at the other end.

The movement woke him and he stirred with a moan as I pulled off my work uniform and grabbed a pair of pyjamas that had somehow made their way over here instead of in my own bedroom. By the time I had flopped down next to him, my tiredness of working all night starting to catch up with me, Scorpius had rolled over and blinked at me sleepily.

"… Rosie?"

"Yeah," I murmured. "Go back to sleep."

"What time is it?"

"Just got home from work," I answered. "About nine in the morning."

"Oh, damn," Scorpius threw an arm over his eyes. "I should probably get up, there's a whole bunch of stuff I have to do–"

"Scorpius," I cut him off. I rolled over so I was facing away from him and reached back to grab his arm, pulling it around me. "Just shut up and go back to sleep. I'm tired."

"I … oh, fine …" It clearly didn't take a lot of convincing and it helped that he was still half asleep. Scorpius snuggled in closer and I would have smiled if I hadn't been so tired. "… I smell bacon. Is Al cooking?" he murmured.

"Mmm … later. Oh," I flopped onto my back so I could see his face. "Found out why he's been so weird lately; he's going to propose to Bea! Been trawling around with a ring for two months, trying to find a way to do it."

"Mmm … that's fantastic," Scorpius had his face half in his pillow and I doubt he even heard me. "Why … erm … oh, why has it taken him two months?"

"Oh. Er …" I didn't want to say. It was supposed to be a happy moment, but I couldn't lie to him. Not only would I feel like my insides had shrivelled up, Scorpius always seemed to be able to tell. "He was going to, but then … well, your mum passed away."

"Oh," Scorpius buried his face in my hair, still mumbling with his eyes closed. "That's … Merlin, it's screwed up everything, hasn't it?"

"Scorpius, no," I turned again to look at him. It was hard to tell in the dark, but I could hear in his voice, even half asleep, that he was trying to keep his emotions steady. "These things happen and they can't be helped. It's not your fault. It's _no one's_ fault. Ok?"

"… ok," Scorpius said, eventually. Whether he actually thought it was ok or not, or whether he actually knew what he was saying ok to, was another matter entirely, but it was fine for now. "I love you, Rosie. Actually, I think I'd love you more if you came to my house for Christmas …"

I rolled my eyes at him, even though he couldn't see it in the dark. "Really? You're going to do this now? You're practically sleep-talking and I'm more or less a zombie."

"_Pleeeeease_," Scorpius insisted. "I know whenever you are put in the same room as my dad, a huge catastrophe happens, but I really think he could use it this year. We can't … we can't spend Christmas alone," he said, hesitantly. "So we've got Grandma and Granddad Malfoy coming, along with Mum … Mum's parents. They haven't met you yet," he added. "They'd like to. Please?"

Oh, for Merlin's sake. I'm so going to regret this.

"Fine, yes I will," I said and it was almost worth getting another smile out of him. "But you know this means you have to spend New Year's with us, right?"

Scorpius considered this for a few moments, absently playing with a lock of my hair, twirling it around his finger. It was something he did when he had trouble sleeping. "Deal." he finally said.

"Sleepy time now?" I asked.

"Sleepy time."

I was almost asleep and Scorpius was just a rumbling snore wrapped around me, when I suddenly remembered. "Oh," I said. "One more thing?"

"… wha …?"

I snuggled more deeply against him. "I love you, too."

Rose: 13, Scorpius: 9.

(It's annoying that the moment I finally seem to be winning, I feel really bad because his mother died! This is just not fair, I can't even enjoy my victory).

* * *

(_If I get insulted one more time_)

(_We are up and leaving_).

"How the ever-loving HELL did I believe this was a good idea?" I moaned.

Scorpius just stifled a snort of laughter. "You didn't. I guilt-tripped you into it."

"Ah, right. Thought I must've been drunk or something." I glanced around Scorpius's drawing room. Yes, his mansion house actually has a _drawing room_. Along with three lounges, four bathrooms and about ten bedrooms all located across three floors. Did I mention the drawing room?

I'd met Scorpius's family before, of course. When we first started going out, we'd had a 'family get-together' with his parents and mine. Naturally, that went about as well as sticking two families who hate each other in the same room for a significant amount of time and told to act civilly could go. It had ended in a lot of screaming and embarrassing topics of conversation. As for meeting his extended family, his aunties, uncles and various cousins, it was a very different experience from meeting my family.

They were all so _proper_ and hardly any of them! I mean, I've got four sets of uncles and aunties, along with their children; one uncle who married his work and spends all his time wrestling dragons; grandparents who are insane; and the offspring and various counterparts of the cousins!

Scorpius, however, only had his grandparents, Lucius and Narcissa, his dad, an aunt Daphne on his mother's side, a mad 'uncle' Greg and his great-aunt Andromeda, who was Teddy's grandma. To add to the wonderfulness of this, Aunt Daphne had her own family and didn't come to Christmas, Uncle Greg probably wasn't even related and great-aunt Andromeda was currently living it up at the Burrow with Teddy and my family!

"This is so sad …" I muttered, staring around the room. Draco Malfoy had invited a neighbouring mansion family around to try and add to the empty space at the dining table.

"Yeah, it doesn't help that half my relatives are either dead or in Azkaban," Scorpius rolled his eyes. "But please, Rosie, just suffer for my sake?"

I only agreed since I had seen the look on Mr Malfoy's face when we had arrived. Far from being best friends, Mr Malfoy and I had never exactly seen eye to eye. In fact, last time we'd spoken had been at Scorpius's birthday last year and I'd specifically told him to, "Piss the hell off, you're embarrassing yourself." However, the second I'd walked through his front door, he had launched himself at us, hugging me tightly and proclaiming his joy in seeing me again.

Yeah, I'd almost had a heart attack. But then I noticed his eyes and saw how much pain was in them and had probably been there since Astoria passed away. I suddenly couldn't be mean to him and I found myself gushing about how I was so happy to be back at Malfoy Manor again.

"It doesn't help that your relatives are _weird_," I muttered, standing as close to Scorpius as was publically appropriate. "D'you know what Uncle Greg said to me at dinner? That I should eat potatoes more because they would match my eyes! My eyes are _blue_. And then he mentioned something about me turning into a dragon."

"Yeah, we're still not sure how we even ended up with an 'Uncle Greg'," Scorpius shrugged. "My theory is that we found him riffling through our garden, but Dad just insists that he's an old family friend."

"Yeah and to top it off, your grandma hates me," I pointed out. "So really, this is just a spectacular evening! We should do this every year."

"Please stop with the sarcasm, Rosie," Scorpius muttered as Grandma Narcissa herself caught his eye. "All you do is make me use it – oh dear god, she's coming over!"

"Act natural!" I hissed, both of us plastering on smiles as Grandma Narcissa approached.

"Scorpius, darling!" she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. It might have been blond at one point, but now it was just white and lifeless. Kind of like her personality. Anyway. "I haven't seen you in so long! Not since Astoria passed, bless her–"

"Yes, Grandma," Scorpius cut in quickly. "Did you like dinner?"

"I suppose it was to standard," she huffed. "You need more house-elves here, this house is in a state of disrepair–!"

"Grandma," Scorpius rolled his eyes. "You know I don't like using house-elves as slaves."

"Then pay them if you must! I don't know what they would want with money anyway, but you younger generation always did have different ways of–"

"Yes, Grandma," Scorpius cut over her again, shooting me a look. "Um …"

In his pause, Grandma Narcissa seemed to lose interest. Then, to my horror, she noticed me. "Ah. Weasley. Still here, are you?"

I forced a grin. "Yes, Mrs Malfoy."

The woman hated me, though I had no idea why. I mean, let's face it, I'm the most loveable person in the world, yet she can't seem to stand me. If I really stretched my brain, it _might_ have been because I accused her of being a death eater the first time we met, but really, that was all in the past, wasn't it?

"In my day, it was disgraceful for a Malfoy to even associate with a Weasley!" Grandma Narcissa said, as if that settled the matter. "Dirty blood, that's what you lot have. 'course, that's the musings of the war, isn't it? Your family thought prejudicially against us, you know." she added, as if this would make me like her more.

"Er, to be honest, I kind of thought that they had reason to …" I said, awkwardly.

Well, that just blew everything up. "Of course YOU would think that!" Grandma Narcissa said, dramatically, waving her hands about and nearly knocking Scorpius flat. "You've been influenced! That's why I never supported my grandson … _associating_ with you. Your hair is far too curly, by the way, and it couldn't hurt to lose a few pounds as well."

"That's lovely," I lied through my teeth, knowing that the last time I had said something in my defence she had nearly blasted my nose off. "Scorpius, don't we have to go do that _thing_ before dessert? Upstairs, _away_ from here?"

"Wha–? Oh, yeah!" Scorpius caught on quickly. "Yes, that _thing_! Must do it before dessert or it'll be a disaster! Sorry, Grandma."

"Oh, don't you worry, darling." Grandma Narcissa gave him an adoring smile as we hurried for the door to the drawing room, heading for the kitchen.

"And you wonder why I don't like coming here for holidays!" I burst out the second we were outside in the hallway.

"Shhh!" Scorpius hissed. "My dad might hear you!"

"I don't care at this point!"

"Look," Scorpius paused in the hallway, gripping my shoulders. "My family drive me mad, too. But we just lost one of the few family members we've got. We can make it through dessert, then I swear, we can get the hell out of here, yeah?"

"Oh, fine," I huffed, giving up and leaning forward to hug him tightly. "But dessert had better be bloody decent."

We decided to go help Mr Malfoy get dessert served, in order to speed up the process. However, when we arrived at the kitchen, it was to find the entire place covered in smoke.

"Dad!" Scorpius yelled, yanking out his wand and vanishing the smoke before it could choke us all. "What the hell is going on?!"

"Oh, Scorpius, thank god!" Mr Malfoy cried. His balding hair was covered in sweat as he wore an apron that read 'best cook ever' and was standing over the smoking oven. "I, er, had a bit of a mishap …"

"Meaning?" Scorpius asked as we hurried closer, trying to discern what was supposed to be in the oven.

"Er, well," Mr Malfoy looked exhausted. "The Yorkshire puddings are normally your mother's job. As it is … erm, I had to attempt them myself," He gestured to the blackened mess that I guess was the Yorkshire puddings. "I think I did an all right job, all things considered."

"Look, that's fine," Scorpius said, turning to the fridge. "We'll just have to have the trifle without them–"

"Er, yeah, about that," Mr Malfoy looked sheepish now. "You know how we made it last night together? Well, it sort of just called to me in the middle of the night and I could hardly sleep anyway, so …"

"You _ate_ it?" I said, aghast.

"If it's any consolation, it was _delicious_."

Scorpius groaned, but Mr Malfoy held up a hand. "No, no!" he said. "No need to worry! I think we've still got some chocolate ice cream somewhere …"

As Mr Malfoy dug around in the freezer, I exchanged a look with Scorpius.

"Get the hell out?"

"Get the hell out."

Rose: 14, Scorpius: 9.

(What's this? How the heck am I winning?).

* * *

(_How to make the most boring shift in existence fun_)

(_Using only a wheelie chair and a lot of tension_).

If Margo crashed into me on that wheelie chair that span around one more time, I swear I'm going to flip out.

"I'm booooooored!" Margo pretty much sang, racing the chair across the accidents department on the ground floor. It was three o'clock in the morning and absolutely nothing was happening.

Margo, Ally and I were the three trainees on duty this shift and we had three other Healers also working. Our shift tonight was being covered by Healer Williams, our boss since he was Head of Healer Training. He was the one who had interviewed us, decided who was accepted into the programme, had led us on our first orientation of the hospital and also decided who was kicked out. Whenever Healer Williams was around, everyone snapped to attention immediately. It didn't help that he was a gruff, middle-aged bloke whose wife had just left him. Every time he left the department, everyone would let out sighs of relief. Our actual supervisor for the trainees (who assessed us during the cycle and determined whether we were fit to pass or not) was most unfortunately out on break; the trainees affectionately called him 'Healer Hot-Arse', though of course not to his face, so we didn't even have him to ogle behind his back (er, no pun intended).

Even the full-Healers on shift relaxed a bit more once Healer Williams left to go sort out some emergency in filing. Penny, a third-year trainee, was on break, but full-Healers, Kyle and Liam, were still around. Liam was supposed to be stocking up the potions and Kyle making beds, but both were currently leaning against the wall and chatting away about a party they went to on the weekend.

Ally had sat herself in the middle of the floor, reading one of our large text books and ignoring everything else. I had tried copying her, but found it so dull, especially with Margo zooming around us on the wheelie chair.

"You're going to kill Ally if you keep doing that, _Healer Death_." I pointed out, emphasising her name.

Margo slammed a foot to the ground, halting her chair mid-spin. "Oh, Rose, come on," she insisted. "You _know_ I hate my last name!"

"Serves you right for becoming a Healer!" I said. "You couldn't have, I dunno, chosen a profession where you don't have to use your last name?"

"It was this or teaching, so no." Margo simply flicked her dark fringe out of her eyes and kept rolling around.

She kept this up for another fifteen minutes, in which I counted our entire stock of blood-replenishing potions three times and wrote an entire shopping list of food I needed to buy once my shift finally ended. Eventually, I took to just watching Margo roll and pointing out where she could do better.

"If you kicked off the wall, you'd go further." I told her.

"I reckon I could reach the other wall!" Margo agreed, kicking off the wall at the end of the accidents wing. I just laughed, since she only got about halfway before she stopped. "Damn it …"

"Oh, that was pathetic!" Kyle snorted, him and Liam having been watching Margo's efforts as well.

"I'd like to see you try and do it better." Margo huffed, jumping off the chair.

"All right, then!" Kyle grinned, taking the chair and rolling it back to the far wall. "Give me something to do …"

We all counted to three for him and Kyle kicked off. It might have made it past halfway, if it weren't for the fact that he crashed into Ally and nearly fell off the chair.

"OUCH!" Ally cried, flying forward from the impact. Glancing up, her eyes widened. "What are you doing?"

"Seeing how far I can get on this chair from kicking off the wall." Kyle admitted, sheepishly as he picked up the fallen chair.

Ally rolled her eyes and simply handed me her text book. "Boys," she huffed. "It all comes down to angles. Let me show you how it's done."

Not only did Ally get over three quarters of the way across the department from her original kick-off, she also aimed for one of the beds. Kicking off that when she reached that, she bounced and rolled her way to the other side with no problem. Margo and I clapped and cheered for her as she hopped off with a grin. "And that," she said, pushing the chair back to Kyle. "is how you do it."

Kyle just stared between Ally and the chair in amazement. "Oh, please," Liam put in. "You had to kick off heaps of stuff just to reach the other side! I bet you couldn't do it without touching anything else!"

Well. All of us leapt to the challenge. What can I say, we were incredibly bored. Whoever decides to hurt themselves at half three on a Tuesday morning is an idiot, but they would have given us something to work with. As it was, Kyle, Liam, Margo and I all had turns trying to get across the room on the chair without touching anything. Kyle was the worst, taking him over ten minutes with his bum-shuffle. Liam gave up all together. Margo had a slightly better technique, sitting on her knees and using her whole body to make the chair move across the floor, taking her only a couple of minutes.

When it was my turn, I tried what Margo did; however, I _may_ have accidentally overexerted myself and made the chair topple over entirely about three quarters of the way across. Ally just giggled and I was glad to see the girl laugh, even if it was at my expense. She was still severely hurt at Gerald ignoring her since the study year started again.

"Rosie, you're hopeless!" she said, picking up the chair for me and offering her hand. "Bet I can do it faster than Margo."

"You're on, sister!" Margo agreed, cheerfully.

Penny returned from her break just as Ally was motoring it across the room, swinging the chair with her body. She had to leap out of the way since it was clear that Ally wasn't stopping anytime soon. However, soon after Penny, someone else came hurrying into the department and stormed straight into Ally and her chair, making them tip over with a crash.

"What the–? Whoa!" Gerald nearly face-planted himself as Ally yelped. "Geez, what was–? A-Ally?"

"Thanks for that." Ally grumbled, picking herself up and ignoring Gerald's face, looking like he wanted to help her, but was certain he was going to get shit for it if he did.

"What're you guys doing?" he asked instead, glancing around at all of us. It was then I noticed that he had brought in a new batch of sheets that had fallen out of his arms during the crash. "… I take it things have been pretty dull?"

"Like you wouldn't _believe_!" Margo said, oblivious to the tension between Gerald and Ally. "Please say that it's better in magical diseases?"

"Had one boy throw up an entire garden for some reason; dirt clods _everywhere_," Gerald said. "Naturally, things are pretty messy."

"That's great, we've got your sheets, you can go now." Ally said, snatching said sheets off Gerald/the floor and stalking to the end of the department and practically throwing them in the cupboard.

"Oh, _Ally_," Gerald huffed. "Would you _stop_ this? It's going beyond a joke now …"

"Who's joking?" Ally said, her back still turned. Kyle and Liam awkwardly pretended to go off and do their proper jobs as Margo stared between the two. Penny gave me a questioning look and I gestured with my hands that she should go and pretend nothing was happening.

"Gerald, we're fine at the moment," I said hastily, trying to defuse the situation the best I could. "Thanks for the sheets! Have fun cleaning up dirt-vomit!"

"Rosie, come on, surely you've noticed her ignoring me?" Gerald insisted.

I was about to say that he was being ridiculous, but apparently Ally had other ideas. "Ignoring _me_?!" she cried, storming back to face Gerald. "You think _I'm_ ignoring _you_? That's rich! You're the one who's started all this!"

"I didn't do anything!"

"_Really_?" Ally said, hands on hips and glaring at Gerald. "I mean, I bare my soul to you, I tell you how I _feel_, you just stand there and you _still_ feel like it's not your fault? Wow. I'm _so_ sorry, I had _no_ idea."

I exchanged a shocked look with Margo, who was standing at the end of one of the beds and absently smoothing out non-existent creases as she stared. Ally must _really_ be pissed off if she's using sarcasm.

Gerald had scowled at her words. "For Merlin's sake, Ally, you took me by surprise! You expected me to be absolutely fine? I had no _idea_ that was how you felt!"

"Even so, it shouldn't take you _six months_ to come to terms with it!" Ally shouted at him. "If you valued me at all, you would have at least let me down easy, not just ignored it in hopes that it would go away! I _love_ you!" she cried and even the full-Healers couldn't ignore the fact that they were staring. "And if you cared at all, you–"

Gerald didn't wait to hear what he could have, should have done. He did what he needed to right then and there. He only had to take two strides to reach Ally, thrust his fingers into her brown hair and kiss her.

"WOOO!" Margo cheered and I laughed, jumping onto the wheelie chair in delight, spinning around. Kyle, Liam and Penny all broke into applause as Gerald and Ally ignored us completely, continuing to snog each other in the middle of the accidents department. They were so odd, so different, with giant Gerald and tiny Ally, but that was what made them perfect. As I knelt on the chair, punching a fist into the air, Margo flung her arm around me as we cheered and cat-called.

"What the hell is going on?!"

I almost fell of the chair again. Only Margo's arm prevented me from doing so, since I tried to jump off the chair so quickly that the wheels spun out from under me. The full-Healers stopped clapping at once and Gerald and Ally leapt apart as if they'd been electrocuted.

Healer Williams had come back from overseeing a patient transfer and he looked mightily pissed off. "Healer Brown!" he snapped and I swear Gerald nearly saluted him. "You're not even meant to be in this department! Get out of my sight!" Gerald mumbled a, "Yes, sir." and quickly scarpered. "Healer Carter! That was the most unprofessional display of behaviour I have _ever_ seen!"

"That's an exaggeration, apparently, he caught Bethany and Daniel shagging in the bathroom last month …" Margo muttered to me under her breath as Ally went bright red. I snorted at Margo's comment and Healer Williams turned his attention to us. Oh, crap.

"Healer Weasley and Healer Death, I expect you to make this department _spotless_ before you leave tonight!" he thundered and I inwardly groaned. Bloody brilliant. Clean up always took forever. "Healer Lightfoot!" Penny stood ram-rod straight. "Start counting stock or you'll be helping them clean! And you two!" he threw a hand in the full-Healers' direction and Kyle and Liam both jumped, looking sheepish. "Just … do your jobs!"

"Yes, Healer Williams." we all muttered, going back to the mundane, stocking up, cleaning jobs that we were supposed to be doing when we had no patients. Healer Williams huffed and stormed to his office, glaring at all of us on the way. When he yelled from his office door, I remembered to take back his chair and reluctantly wheeled it back over.

When I got back to the main department, it was to find Ally still bright red, but humming under her breath. I grinned. I guess it wasn't such a boring shift after all.

Rose: 14, Scorpius: 9, Gerald and Ally: 1.

(Oh, they deserve something).

* * *

(_I've flipped a lid_)

(_And turned into my least favourite person in the_ _world_).

When a new cycle began at work, I was less than thrilled to find myself on potion mixing. It was one of the most boring jobs at the hospital and the supervisor for the trainees was a crotchety old man in his seventies who just _wouldn't_ retire.

"Anyone want to join me in murdering Healer Sampson?" I asked at large when I reached the staff room, just before my shift was due to start.

"I will!" Benjamin said, immediately, as I knew he would. The poor bloke had once been put on potion mixing three times in one year.

"Aw, it won't be that bad, Rosie." Gerald called out, waving at me.

I just shrugged. "At least it's a short shift. It's mine and Scorpius's anniversary today, so he's picking me up after work and we're _apparently_ doing something together," I shot him a look. "Most likely we'll get into an argument and get thrown out of whatever restaurant we go to, but it's the thought that counts."

"Hell, is that _another_ year for you?" curly-haired Sarah asked me, on her break. "You guys must have been together for ages!"

"Six years today."

Several people in the staff room gave disbelieving looks at that and I huffed exasperatedly. Honestly, you'd think these people had never heard of a happy relationship. "My last relationship didn't even last six _weeks_!" Sarah cried. "How the hell have you managed to last?"

"Why aren't you _married_ yet?" Margo cut in, having just arrived.

"Oh, come on!" I said. "We were sixteen when we got together! I've barely turned twenty two; I'm _not_ getting married this young."

"But you _will_ eventually …?" Sarah said with a grin.

I groaned. "Someone change the subject, please."

"I think Rosie deserves our pity for having to be supervised by Healer Sampson for eight weeks." Gerald said and I decided then and there that just for that, he would be invited to any wedding of mine.

"Yes, see? Pity me, all of you!"

"Aw, Rosie, Healer Sampson isn't so bad," Margo shrugged. "If anything, he's half-blind, so if you made a mistake, he wouldn't even be able to tell."

"Yeah, potion mixing will be fine." Sarah added.

"Easy for _you_ to say, you've got Healer Crosa!" I said to her. "She's fantastic! She lets you experiment with spells and if you screw something up, she takes full responsibility for it! Healer Sampson was clearly born in the dark ages, seeing as he's like, a thousand years old."

Sarah just rolled her eyes as the rest of us pulled on our lime green Healer robes. "I should have known that you'd enjoy screwing up patients." Sarah told me.

"Hey, you've got to learn somehow," I pointed out. "We've got exams coming up! Got to be prepared."

I was right, of course, though I admit that my logic was perhaps a bit flawed. We had exams at the end of each year that we had to pass, otherwise we were kicked off the course. I had managed to maintain decent results so far, luckily, since they counted towards whether we got chosen to pass as full-Healers or not. Reluctantly, I bid Gerald and the girl's goodbye and headed for the third floor, potion and plants poisoning, which was also the home for the mixing lab.

Just as I was leaving, Ally arrived and I was just calling out hi to her when she walked through the door to the trainee staff room and saw Gerald. She yelped and practically ran headfirst into the bathroom door in her haste to hide. I rolled my eyes at that as I continued up. When Gerald and Ally had given their spectacular performance back in February, I had naïvely thought that they had finally sorted whatever shit they had and would give a relationship a go. Unfortunately, I forgot to factor in the fact that Gerald is bloody stubborn and Ally Carter is probably the shyest person in the world. Now it's May … and they've ignored it. They even _kissed_ … and now they refused to talk about it.

It was _infuriating_.

Just as I reached the mixing lab, I ran into one of the other trainee blokes who was scheduled on mixing as well. Jono was a lovely man who called everyone 'darling' and didn't care if you were a horrible bitch (like Lucy Harley, me on occasion, etc.) or the sweetest person in existence (Bea, Ally, etc.) because he treated them all the same. Yes, he was a little eccentric with his brown rock-a-billy hair and gay with his long-term partner, Jared, but he was one of the few trainee Healers I genuinely liked.

"Rosie, darling!" he said, greeting me warmly outside the mixing lab. "Haven't seen you around this last cycle! I've been on spell damage while you've been working away down on the ground floor."

"Aw, I know, but at least we get to suffer potion mixing together." I pointed out, accepting his hug quickly before opening the door to the lab.

"There's no one I would rather be with," Jono grinned at me, taking the door off me and holding it open. See? This is a real gentleman. "It was your birthday last month, wasn't it? You and your man do anything special?"

I snorted. "Hardly. I had to work all day on my birthday. But it's our anniversary today, so apparently we're doing something tonight."

"Oh, how sweet!" Jono said. We reached the main mixing room for the lab. It was a huge, bright white room full to the brim with cauldrons sitting on low tables, a handful of Healers watching over them and ingredient cupboards stocked all around the walls. There were also a mix of fire extinguishers (y'know, because our wands might suddenly stop working or something) hazmat gloves and a huge sign saying, 'Make a spill, mop if you will!' The entire place gave me the creeps.

Healer Sampson was down the far end of the mixing room, leaning hunched over a cauldron that was emitting gold sparks. Oh, god, he's dyed his hair again. Every now and then, he'll try and be 'hip' and 'get with it' as apparently us young folks say. I have to point out, I don't think I've ever used those sayings in my life.

"Oh, Merlin, kill me now," I moaned quietly as we hesitantly pushed forward through the low murmurs of the potion mixing lab. "I do not want to suffer through two months this this crotchety old ma – aaaaan …"

My voice sort of trailed off as Healer Sampson turned around and oh man, did we get a shock when we realised that it wasn't Healer Sampson after all. It was a new Healer, probably only just qualified to be a trainee supervisor. I could tell because he wasn't even that much older than me. His wavy brown hair fell perfectly over his head and his bright blue eyes were dazzling. He grinned when he saw Jono and I standing dumbstruck.

"You must be Healer Weasley and Healer Lawson," he said. "I'm Healer O'Sullivan, welcome back to potion mixing!" His smile grew wider. "Oh, and I can promise you that after his retirement, there will be no more 'crotchety old men' around here."

"Holy shit …" I muttered to Jono.

"Hot damn." he agreed.

* * *

"I swear, he's a god personified!" I was saying to a severely awestruck group of girls in the trainee staff room after my shift had ended. Oh, plus Jono. "Just his voice made my heart stop."

"What's his name?" Sarah asked, eagerly.

Jono and I exchanged sheepish looks. "Erm … look, ladies," Jono said. "We must admit that we were so busy gawking that we quite forget his name. In the end, we took to calling him Healer O'Hotness, though not to his face, of course."

"He certainly makes potion mixing that much more exciting." I said.

"I didn't think potion mixing could _ever_ be exciting!" Bethany cried.

"D'you reckon we'll see him as we come to and from work?" Margo asked. "Bloody annoying we're not allowed in the main staff room … rite of passage my arse …"

"Actually," Jono and I exchanged looks. "Didn't he say that he was finishing almost at the same time as us?"

"Yes!" Jono agreed. "Because it's his mother's birthday and he was going to dinner with her!"

That got the girls chattering excitedly. When several first-years asked me if he was married, we got into a lengthy discussion over what the ring he wore on his right hand meant and if he was indeed married, how desperate we would have to be to chat him up. See? This is why I love being a Healer. The gossip is just too good.

"You are so lucky, Rose!" Bethany said. "You get Healer O'Hotness for eight whole weeks!"

"Oh, trust me, Beth, I know," I told her. "He is _not_ someone I'm going to forget for a while! God … if he snogged me, there would be no way I'd throw _that_ body off me–!"

"I hope that's me you're talking about …" said a voice from the door to the staff room and I nearly fell off the edge of the table I had been perched on.

"Scorpius!" I yelled, leaping a mile. "I – of course! Yes, I was definitely talking about you … c'mere you, um, sexy thing …"

It's no wonder Scorpius looked at me like my head had swelled ten times its usual size; I don't think I'd ever used the term 'sexy thing' in my life. The girls and Jono all giggled behind their hands and I stuck up my middle finger at them behind my back as I quickly kissed Scorpius in greeting. "… you all right?" he asked me in confusion.

"Absolutely spiffing!" I said. Oh, for god's sake, I sound like Hugo when he's drunk. "Let's go! Y'know, celebrating our _six year long relationship_ and everything!" I added for the girls and Jono's benefits. They didn't even support me, just told me to look out for Healer O'Hotness, the bitches.

"Who's … Healer O'Hotness?" Scorpius asked, looking at me like I was deranged as I practically dragged him out of the trainee staff room and down the short hall that opened out behind the front reception desk, where the three lovely receptionist ladies were busy reading magazines and filing their nails. "Or do I not want to know?"

"Look," I paused behind the desk, taking hold of his hands lest he flip his lid and kill everyone in sight. "We were just being stupid. Every workplace has gossip. Healer O'Hotness may be what could possibly sort of _almost_ be attractive, but I swear he's got nothing on you. Ok?"

"I … think so?" Scorpius still looked slightly confused, but kissed me anyway. Most unfortunately for him, before I could really respond, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and I pulled away with a shriek.

"BETH!" I yelled down the hall to the trainee staffroom. "SARAH, MARGO, JONO, BITCHES GET OUT HERE!"

Scorpius nearly got trampled in the stampede of Healers who came swarming, running up to the desk as I tried to discreetly point out Healer O'Hotness, despite the fact that discreet was probably shot to hell the second I yelled for everyone to get out here. Even the reception ladies had to stand up to get a good look.

"Corrr, Rose," Bethany sighed. "You were right."

"Ooh, he's fit!" the receptionist, Catie, giggled. I was only mildly disgusted, since she was probably about fifty and could have been Healer O'Hotness's mother.

"And ladies," Jono pointed out. "We get _that_ for two whole months!"

That was about when Healer O'Hotness finally noticed the ten or so trainee Healers draping themselves over the front reception desk and he waved at us. I swear, ten girls and Jono giggled, flipped their hair and waved back.

Holy god. I just flipped my hair. I've turned into Lucy bloody Harley!

I jumped down from the desk, disgusted with myself. Scorpius wasn't standing too far away, his arms folded and looking extremely pissed off. "Oh, remembered me, have you?" he muttered.

"Oh, come off it," I punched him on the arm. "He's not that hot."

"You seemed to think differently when you were busy flicking your hair."

"For Merlin's sake, you're not _jealous_ are you?" I snorted as the rest of the Healers slowly trailed back to the staff room as Healer O'Hotness disappeared through the magical door to the Muggle world.

Scorpius just scoffed at me. "You're bloody mental!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, we'll see, hotness."

"If you think I'm snogging you tonight, you've got another thing coming …"

Why do I see yet another argument in the future? Happy anniversary to me.

Conclusion to my fourth year out of Hogwarts: 

-Everyone handles death in their own ways and it's best to just let them do it. However, if 'handling' it means going out on a bender and drinking every alcoholic beverage in sight, then you should probably mention something.

-The Malfoy's will always hate me.

-Al had better bloody propose to Bea or I'm going to smack him.

-Gerald and Ally had better sort their shit soon or I'm _also_ going to smack them.

-My life involves a lot of being violent towards others. I need help.

Rose: 14, Scorpius: 10.

(I became my own worst enemy. If that doesn't say I lost, I don't know what does).

* * *

A/N: I _hated_ to kill Astoria, but I really wanted Rose and Scorpius to handle some tough emotions. Let's face it, they've had it pretty cruisey so far and I wanted to show that they can handle anything. Unfortunately that meant killing someone. Originally it was supposed to be a Weasley, but I didn't have the heart to kill any of them! So I turned to the Malfoy's and Astoria it was.

Again, thank you everyone for your support! Next chapter, the story really kicks off. :)

Please let me know what you think, reviews are always appreciated! Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	6. The Fifth One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, ultimatums or proposals gone horribly wrong.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 5: The Fifth One.

(_Fifth Year out of Hogwarts, 2028_)

(_And this is where the story starts_).

"Rose Charlotte Weasley, I can't _believe_ you!"

"Really? Did you actually just _'middle-name'_ me?"

"Look, all I'm saying is that that is _clearly_ not an attractive hobbit. I swear, if you don't take that back right now, I'll dump you right here on this sofa."

I just scoffed as Al hissed, "Shut up!" again at us. "Look, all _I'm_ saying is that those eyes are gorgeous and if it was between him, the creepy thing and the elf chick, I'm going with the hobbit!"

"But the elf girl … she's pretty! How can you like the bloke with hairy feet over her?"

"Seriously? Pretty? What're you, twelve?"

"Seriously?" Al muttered to Bea on the other side of the sofa. "They're arguing about fictional characters?"

Ok, so our argument was pretty useless, but I couldn't help it. I'm nothing if not stubborn. Besides, we had Al to blame for this anyway, since it was him who suggested that we watch a Muggle film. The four of us had currently snuggled up together on Al and Scorpius's sofa and we'd been here all day, doing absolutely nothing but gorging ourselves on chocolaty snacks and watching orcs and elves or whatever the crap beat each other up over some ring. Al said we were watching something called the 'The Lord of the Ring Trilogy' but we were nearly at the end of the third movie and from what I can tell, no one had become lord of the ring.

To pass the time (and to stop us from laughing every five seconds at the ridiculous creatures; seriously, elves do _not_ look like that) Scorpius and I had started playing a game we were fond of, appropriately called, 'Kill, Screw, Marry'. There's nothing like naming three random people (or in this case, three magical creatures from Middle-earth) and choosing which we'd kill, which we'd screw and which we'd marry.

Scorpius was currently pissed off because I picked the main hobbit character as my screw option. What can I say? He has gorgeous eyes! And he also questioned my choice of killing the main elf girl. Well, I'm sorry, but she just scared me slightly. That unfortunately meant I was marrying a creepy gollon creature or whatever the hell it's called, but whatever.

Al rolled his eyes as we got back to watching the film that we'd borrowed off Libby. While Al typically loved Muggle films and P.V. shows, Scorpius was a bit more sceptical. Bea had grown up with them, so she wasn't fazed at all and I admit that there were several P.V. shows I was a huge fan of thanks to Al and Bea, but Scorpius was from a very upper-class Pureblood family. The fact that he and Al had even bought a P.V. together at a Muggle car boot sale had sent his father reeling.

"I don't know why the hell you like this film," Scorpius pointed out. Al didn't even look up since he was so enraptured. "It's too bloody long and there's so many different species, it's hard to keep up …"

"Eh, it's not one of the worst things I've ever seen," Bea shrugged. "But I can't keep track either, Scorpius, so I say just go with it. I mean, what's that thing?" she asked, pointing at the screen where the creepy looking creature was crawling up a mountain.

Al sighed, exasperatedly. "I've told you about a hundred times! That's Gollum, also known as Sméagol when he was a hobbit. He was corrupted by the One Ring and Frodo has to stop him."

"And Frodo's the 'wizard', right?" Scorpius put in, using quote marks as he had been doing all throughout the movie whenever the word 'wizard' was mentioned (because in his opinion, the bloke couldn't look less like a wizard). Al groaned.

"No!" he said. "_Gandalf_ is the wizard! Y'know, the one who died and came back white!"

"Forget wizard, it sounds like he's a ghost to me, mate …" I said.

"He looked cooler when he was grey, if you ask me." Bea put in.

"He's not a ghost! And Frodo's the main character, he's the one who's … ah, that's him!" he said, pointing to the screen and I cringed from the large spider that came on the screen. I can't help it, I get it off Dad. "The one who's been pretty much eaten by the spider!"

"But why did they _walk_ all the way to the Mountain of Doom?" Scorpius complained. "Couldn't they have, I dunno, hitched a ride with those walking tree things?"

"_Scorpius_," Al practically whined. "First, it's _Mount Doom_, not Mountain _of_ Doom! And if they didn't walk … well, that wouldn't have made a good film, would it?"

"The sad thing is, we've been lazing around for nine hours, watching this." Bea said.

"How did we even end up watching Lords of the Ring?" I asked.

"Because it was Al's turn to pick a film."

"SHUSH!" Al yelled, waving his hands at us. "And it's the LORD of the RINGS!"

We shut up for the moment, Bea giggling and Scorpius and I going back to our squabbling game. Al was starting to get agitated now and I knew from experience that it wasn't just because of the film getting to its dramatic climax. For the past year, Al had been toting a diamond ring around with him in his pocket and had yet to give it to the girl who was currently leaning against him and delicately stuffing a chocolate frog into her mouth. When he'd admitted to me that he was planning on proposing, I had practically flipped a lid. Unfortunately, his plans had been warped slightly by the fact that Astoria Malfoy had suddenly passed away barely a week later and all of Al's thoughts completely went to supporting one of his best mates.

This, of course, meant that Al kept putting it off and putting it off, until now he's suddenly found himself a year later and is starting to get desperate. Every time he got some sort of exciting emotion, he would get extremely tense and stressed. It didn't help that I was the only person he'd told. While it was a lovely honour, he'd said that he didn't tell Scorpius because he was afraid of him getting sick of Al's procrastination and basically asking Bea for him. I didn't mention it to Al, but I had actually told Scorpius about Al's plans the moment I had found out; however, luky for my cousin, he was half-passed out at the time and barely sleeping thanks to his mother passing away a month ago at that point, so he hadn't remembered a single thing about that conversation (except, of course, for the fact that I had reluctantly agreed to spend Christmas with his family. Seriously, of all things to remember! That dinner had just been an ultimate disaster). And the only reason Al had told _me_ was because I forced him!

I know. At this rate, they're _never_ getting married.

"… did he just get his finger bitten off by the weird creature thing?" Bea asked, squinting through her own fingers and looking quite disgusted. Al sighed.

"Bea, it's required that you have some sort of imagination before you watch a film like this." he said.

"Who the hell came up with this is what I'd like to know …" Scorpius answered.

"You can talk," I said, snorting with laughter. "We're _wizards_. Whoever decided to try and see what magical powers they had, had to be pretty out of it."

Scorpius didn't even grace me with an answer, just rolled his eyes.

_Eventually_, the film finished (which left Al rather sad; in fact, I could've sworn that he started crying a bit at the end there) and I stood up to stretch. "What time is it?" I asked, standing on my tiptoes and stretching my arms in the air.

"About one in the morning." Al glanced at his watch.

"Let's just head home, then," I glanced down to help Bea up, but over the last ten minutes or so, she had fallen asleep, leaning against Al's chest. "Oh. You want me to kick her, or …?"

"Nah, I'll levitate her to bed soon," Al shrugged. "Last time I tried to carry her, she decked me in her sleep."

"Yeah, she's lethal that one," I agreed, instead hauling Scorpius to his feet. "Our first night in the flat, we had to share a bed and I ended up with a bruise on my leg for about two weeks!"

Al just laughed quietly, so as to not wake his girlfriend. "G'night, Rosie. Love you."

"Love you, too. See you tomorrow!"

"_Mate_," Scorpius said, raising his arms in a 'hey!' fashion. "What, no love for _me_?"

Al rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, love you too or whatever, now get out of here before both of our manliness is taken away from us!"

Bea and I swapped flats on a regular basis now. Bea claimed it was because Al had charmed his bed so that it moulded his body and it was good for her back, but even Trevor knew that it was because those two can hardly spend a day without each other (and let's face it, Trevor is probably one of the densest blokes I know). Likewise, Scorpius often stayed at our flat so much that it's gotten to the point where I'll order him to go clean my own room, since most of the mess is his anyway.

Scorpius and I wandered back the two doors down to mine and Bea's flat, our joined hands swinging between us. I was so silent and lost in thoughts of how to get Al to man up and just ask Bea to marry him that Scorpius was apparently starting to get worried.

"Um, Rosie?" he asked, once we got inside and I collapsed at the table. Ooh, look, my text book and study notes are still here, unfinished. What a surprise. "Are you ok? I hardly ever see you this silent. Normally it means you're mad at me."

"Oh, I'm not mad," I told him quickly, as Scorpius rolled his eyes and jabbed his wand in the direction of the kettle, making it boil. "Or, well, not at this particular point in time. I'm … just sick of all this study." I decided to keep Al's potential proposal his secret for now. Scorpius would honestly just try and slap sense into him; Al learns more from a softer, encouraging approach.

"Well, you're nearing the end of it now!" Scorpius tried to cheer me up, pouring us both a cup of tea. "Don't tell me, you're going to be up till three in the morning, writing those notes up, aren't you?"

"I'm a Ravenclaw, it's like you don't know me at all." I said, accepting his tea gratefully as he sat down in the chair next to me.

Scorpius just shot me a look from over his teacup. "With you, I sometimes wonder."

"Look, I have to do it before my bloody shift tomorrow, all right?"

"Oh, come on," Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Work can't _still_ be that bad, right?"

"Work is _normally_ fine!" I pointed out. "It's only when you've got twenty-odd people ready to slit each other's throats to get one of fifteen spots when they turn into right bastards."

"So the competition is still fierce then?"

_That_ had to be a massive understatement. This was finally my last year of the five-year Healer training programme. Unfortunately, that meant that the trainee Healers I had gotten to know so well, suddenly turned into crazy-psycho-bitches, burning each other's notes and stealing their equipment in attempts to get a spot. We knew that it would come to this, but I had stupidly gone and made friends with them anyway (minus the vultures, led by Lucy Harley, because of course they all hate me). It was every Healer out for themselves now!

"Apparently, those who are finally chosen are sent out on a bonding camp because they'll hate each other so much by the end of it." I answered him.

"Have I ever mentioned how glad I am that I'm working with Muggle rights?"

"A fair few," I said, sniggering. "Now shut up and go to bed, I need to figure out how to cure Dragon Pox."

Scorpius groaned as I pulled my huge text book towards me. "Rosie, Dragon Pox was the first thing you learnt about! You've looked after _hundreds_ of children with Dragon Pox!"

"If I want to be a full Healer, it won't hurt to brush up on a few things …" I muttered. I didn't even need to look at him to know that he was scoffing at me.

"Rosie, when you 'brush up on things', you test yourself on the entire text book." Scorpius said.

"Ravenclaw!" I countered, not glancing up.

He probably would've argued back, but we were both interrupted by my tawny owl, Layla, flying in through the lounge window, a large letter attached to her.

"Layla!" I said, happily as she landed on the table in front of me, looking slightly bleary eyed. I wasn't surprised to see her home at this time of night. The time differences had to be throwing my poor owl out of whack. "How far did you fly this time?"

She only gave a half-hearted hoot and stuck her head under her wing right there on the table. Stroking her head, I detached the letter.

"Where is she now?" Scorpius asked.

"Apparently, Australia …" I said. "Hang on, let me read it …"

_Dear Rosie, _

_So much has happened since Layla last got to me! I really should get an owl of my own, then she wouldn't be so tired all the time … anyway, I know last time I sent a letter I was in India, but the Australasian Quidditch Cup is being held in Australia this year! I just had to go see it, so got here just in time! It's honestly so boiling since we had to travel all the way into the outback because that's the only place that the stadium will be safe from Muggles. _

_I feel sorry for you poor sods back in England! Australia in mid-October? It's practically summer here! I thought I'd gotten the worst sunburn in the world when I was in Dubai, but no I've actually gone purple … guess I should've put on more sunblock … Mum would definitely freak if she saw me, but I'm loving the weather and at least now my skin matches my hair! Even though it was nearly thirty five degrees yesterday and I actually had to lie down in the middle of the backpackers kitchen floor, because that was the coldest room in the place! _

_But I've got my cork-hat on and I've already wrestled a snake! (Seriously, it was in my bed. I was going to levitate it out the window, but since I was at the backpackers and sharing with about six other Muggles, I had to let them take care of it. It's times like these when I miss the weirdest creature around being a Pygmy Puff). _

_But the Australasian Quidditch Cup has been amazing! Tell Hugo that he HAS to come to Aussie at some point during his life, because they are NUTS here! And I thought Quidditch in England was brutal! Sometimes to make the games more interesting, they chuck a few alligators or red-back spiders onto the pitch, so if they fall, they're history! Oh, and their mascots are really weird. There's one team from the Sunshine Coast called the Irwin Annihilators and their logo is a man in a cork hat wrestling a crocodile! No idea what the hell that's about, but I've got you another key ring of their logo! _

_And because I know Mum asks in every letter, no I'm not coming home any time soon. I've got a lot of world to see yet! I mean, hell, I had to skip most of Asia to get to the Quidditch on time! You'll see me for Christmas though and there are a LOT of photos for you to look through. I've met up with some Kiwi's who are at the end of their O.E (that's some New Zealander's on their overseas experience, keep up with the lingo!) so we're travelling around Aussie together before going to New Zealand and they said they would show me around there. They're Muggles unfortunately, so they can't come to the Quidditch, but they're all really nice, not at all like those stalkers from Denmark! _

_(Oh, and one of the blokes is insanely hot. Like he took his shirt off and I swear I drooled. In fact, Scorpius would probably turn gay for him. But don't tell him that, he'll have to fight me for him!). _

_I would ramble on a lot more, but we're going down to the beach for a swim and it's ten o'clock at night! I love Australia! _

_Oh, and I love you too, Rosie. See you at Christmas. _

_Lots of love, _

_LL xox. _

"She swears I'd turn _gay_ for him?" Scorpius said in outrage, reading over my shoulder as I just pissed myself laughing.

"Oh, LL …" I just muttered to myself. Ever since dropping out of Hogwarts and jetting off to Brazil, Lily had been travelling the world. It's been three years and she still hasn't come home, having nearly visited every continent on the earth. She says all she has to visit now is Antarctica and she'll have seen everything. We see her every now and then, since she always come home for Christmas and some significant birthdays, but it's always to jet off to another stray country first thing. One of the conditions she agreed on so I would let her go was that she had to buy me a key-ring from every country she visits. I used to stick them all on my bag that I take to work with me, but I had to stop after it got to about 50. I swear I've got another 100 more somewhere.

To be honest, I don't think she'll ever settle down, whether it be in England or Guatemala or Australia. Auntie Ginny went spare when she found out that Lily had left and even went as far as to tracking her down like James and I did, but Lily refused to budge. The only thing that would make her consider staying somewhere I think would be if she fell in love. Unfortunately, Lily was hurt pretty badly while she was at Hogwarts; cheated on and then dumped in front of the entire castle. The sad thing was, she couldn't get over him while she he was still around her and I think that's partly why she was so keen to get away.

Now, the chances of my temperamental and determined little cousin falling in love were pretty slim, but it doesn't hurt for a girl to hope every now and then.

"Well, I suppose that's your cousin," Scorpius sighed. "Potter all the way. I can't believe I associate with you people …"

"Watch it, that's my baby cousin." I pointed out.

Scorpius just stood from the table, his tea now drained as he stretched. "I'm going to bed," he said. "See you about four in the morning, which is when you'll finally drag yourself away from your text books."

I rolled my eyes and swatted at him when he just bent down to kiss the side of my head before leaving for my (and often our) bedroom. Honestly, I wasn't going to be out here _all_ night, I just had some things I wanted to look over! I'm not _that_ bad.

"Yes! You _are_ that bad!" Scorpius called from the doorway.

Damn it!

* * *

A few days later, I was simultaneously trying to find my Healer uniform in my extremely messy room (which clearly, Scorpius had _not_ cleaned) while also trying to reading _A Healer's Syllabus_. I had work in an hour and I was busy throwing my clothes everywhere. Seriously, now was _not_ a good time for me to have forgotten to have done my washing!

"Rosie?" came Bea's voice from the doorway.

Where the HELL is my shirt? _Spattergroit can be ruled out if the patient has complete movement in the left ankle … _

"ROSE!"

"Whoa, what?!" I jumped and dropped my text book entirely. It went clattering to the floor as I sat on my knees on the middle of my bed, surrounded by pretty much every item of clothing I own and some of Scorpius's as well, actually. Bea laughed, leaning her hip against the frame of my bedroom door.

"I think you're losing it, Rosie," she said. "That Healer course of yours is doing your head in."

"Was there anything you wanted, besides scaring the hell out of me?"

Bea laughed, but sobered pretty quickly. I noticed and gestured for her to come join me on my bed, putting my text book down and she jumped up next to me.

"It's Al. Do you know what's wrong with him?"

I tried not to giggle and give him away completely. Honestly, I tried! But I've been trying to keep this a secret for a _year_ now. Every time Bea mentioned Al's weirdness, I had to stifle either a full-blown laugh or a frustrated groan along with the urge to kill someone. It was starting to get to the point where I was about to crack. But did Al care? No! He still procrastinates, insisting that he's making plans, when in reality he's probably curled up in some panic room somewhere, muttering that no one will ever love him. I don't know what the hell my cousin's problem is. So this time, when the urge to giggle hit me, I tried to smoother it down with little success. Bea stared as I avoided her eye.

"Rosie …" she said, hesitantly. "Did you just _giggle_?"

"No!" I sniggered.

"Yes, you did!" she cried. "You're still giggling now! What the hell is going on?!"

Oh, she suspects. She totally suspects. Quick, throw her off, say anything, c'mon Rose –

"Al's going to propose to you!" I cried.

I swear Bea's eyes nearly fell out of her head. Oh, why the hell was I born? This was such a classic Rose.

"Piss off!" Bea shoved me on the arm. "Stop talking bollocks, what's _really_ wrong?"

"Bea, I'm serious!" I insisted. Really, Rose, just keep digging that hole. "He wants to marry you! He's got a ring and everything! I actually inadvertently ended up choosing it for him!"

Bea just stared at me. "… you're being serious?"

"Absolutely."

"You're not flipping a lid and going insane?"

"Well, I don't know about that, but I'm telling the truth."

Bea just fell over onto her back in shock, sending my clothes flying everywhere. "I don't believe this …" she said, faintly.

"Oh, no, don't freak out!" I said, frantically, leaping over her to stare at her face. "Don't you DARE freak out! You're in love with Al! You want to marry him too, yeah?"

"I … well, yeah," Bea threw an arm over her eyes. "I mean, we've talked about it, but that was _ages_ ago, like over a year …"

"Well, that's just Al!" I said, trying to calm her down. "You know what he's like, takes forever to do anything! Probably why he's even been carting the ring around with him for twelve months!"

"What?" Bea sat up suddenly, nearly smacking me in the head in the process. I gave her a confused look. What the hell did I say now? She should know by now that I say weird shit. I'm actually surprised that I've managed to keep it a secret from her for so long! I'm thinking it was probably because there had been so many 'almost' proposals over the past year to keep me satisfied that it needed to stay secret, but as a result, it's also caused me to lose faith in that he'll ever actually _do_ it. Now, I can't even imagine it happening.

"Erm … I mean …" I racked my brains.

Bea didn't even let me try and come up with an excuse. "Why has it taken him so long to ask me?" she asked, bluntly.

"I dunno, I guess he's just been trying to find a way to do it–?"

"That's bollocks and you know it!" Bea cut in over me. "He's had _twelve months_! It doesn't take long! _Will you marry me_? See, that took like, three seconds!"

"Bea! It's my _cousin_! He overthinks stuff, it's just who he is!" I tried to defend him, but Bea didn't look like she was going to have it, picking up one of my tops and twisting it in her fingers. "Look, he bought the ring in October last year. He was going to do it, but then … well, then Scorpius's mum died. After that, all he could concentrate on was making sure Scorpius was ok."

"Right. Fine, I get that," Bea countered. "But the anniversary of her death is _next week_ and Scorpius is doing so much better. He still could have asked me."

"Don't think he doesn't want to!" I insisted. "He loves you, seriously, Bea."

Bea snorted, but smiled at me as she got up and off my bed. "Yeah," she said. "Sometimes, I struggle to believe it. I'll see you later, Rosie. Have a good shift at work."

"Don't tell him I told you!" I said, only slightly desperate. "I wasn't supposed to. I haven't even told Scorpius!"

"I won't," Bea said from the doorway. "If he wants to marry me, he'll bring it up. Oh, and here–"

She threw the t-shirt she'd been twisting in her hands at my face and it flopped onto my head. It was my work shirt.

I really have screwed things up, haven't I?

* * *

The next night, Libby invited us to dinner at her place, for no reason in particular. As far as I was aware, Bea hadn't mentioned anything about Al's potential proposal, just like she'd said. The only difference I could really see in her behaviour was that she thought a lot, often spending moments not saying anything, but staring into space like she was trying to memorise the entire latest copy of _Witch Weekly_. Al was, of course, oblivious but surprisingly, Libby noticed something was off straight away. And this is the woman who goes around, wearing fake beards for the hell of it.

"Rosie! How the hell are you?!" she said happily once I arrived at her flat, having come straight from work. Scorpius, Al, Bea, Trevor, Lucy Harley, Toby and Jo were already there, spaced around Libby's living room, chatting together excitedly like we always did when we all got together again. Libby hugged me tightly and I wrapped my arms around her, glad for Libby's normality. Or, well, more normal than my life at the moment. Libby had never exactly been known for her 'normal' status. She still couldn't hold down a flatmate. In fact, her last one had moved out two weeks ago after Libby caught him stealing her underwear.

"I'm fine!" I said, grinning as I squeezed her back. "Still haven't found a new flatmate then?"

"Nah, the last one I interviewed actually asked me if he could have, and I quote, 'a quick squiz at my boob'," Libby rolled her eyes. "I'm thinking I may just have to live with my brother and there's nothing sadder than that."

"Trevor lives with Gracie," I pointed out. James and I had once bribed Trevor's sister into giving us confidential information, but that's a _whole_ other story. "There's worse!"

"At least your best friend doesn't drive you crazy," Libby gave our mates a fond look. "I love Jo and the rest of these idiots, but like hell could I live with any of them. Oh, what's wrong with Al and Bea?" she added in an offhand voice, like she was ordering a sandwich or something.

Again, I couldn't help but giggle, but fortunately, Libby only frowned. "They, um … there's something going on. I'm not supposed to talk about it."

"Well," Libby glanced back at the two. Al had his arm around Bea and was laughing like normal, talking to Jo, but Bea was staring off into space again. "So long as neither one is dying, I'm fine not knowing for now. C'mon, Rosie," Libby grinned. "Catch us up on the goss!"

As it turns out, my life was one of the normal ones of the group at this point in time; a shocker, I know. Along with Libby's flatmate problems, she also complained of a fellow Cursebreaker at her work who kept following her. "I only slept with the bloke once!" she insisted. "Honestly, does sneaking out of the window at two in the morning really say 'I want a serious relationship'?"

Jo worked as an Obliviator at the Ministry and she spoke of a recent incident where a Muggle had freaked out upon accidentally seeing what she thought was a revenging baby dragon; only it turned out to have just been a hedgehog that had gotten an entire sack of potatoes stuck to its back. Still, once Jo's team turned up, wands blazing, she went crazy and caused one of the Obliviators to accidentally hit another.

"He lost about six months of his life!" Jo said. "It was so powerful, I'm surprised he didn't forget who he was entirely! I swear even his hair was singed from the force."

"Yeah, maybe you should keep your hair short …" Toby pointed out. Jo fingered the ends of her bright blond hair. At Hogwarts, she had cut her hair short, so she and her twin actually sometimes looked a lot alike. However, she'd decided she wanted a change recently and was currently let her hair grow all the way to her shoulders. She shrugged.

"If I ever forget who I am," she said, seriously. "I give you full permission to re-teach me to like weird shit for your amusement."

"Trust me, I will!" Toby said with a grin. He then launched into his own story of his current girlfriend of the month killing his pet guinea pig when he tried to dump her.

Harley's life was much the same as mine at the moment, which was kind of disturbing to say the least. I didn't hate her anymore; or well, I didn't hate her as much as I did at Hogwarts. I attempted to be civil most times I saw her, that's a start in my book. She's still Scorpius's best friend after all, not to mention that I work with her and she's also Trevor's part-time girlfriend. I say part-time, since she still dumps him whenever she starts feeling too comfortable. Sometimes, I really want to slap sense into her and make her see what an amazing bloke she has. But, well, if she wants to screw up her life, I'm not going to stop her.

"Then he threw up bubbles _everywhere_!" she was saying, dramatically, sitting on Trevor's knee and talking of an incident earlier this week up in Spell Damage, unfortunately our current cycle. "All over our very own Healer Weasley as well! She was _not_ happy, were you?"

"It had bits of vomit mixed in, of course I wasn't happy!" I said, rolling my eyes.

The others just laughed and I decided that I couldn't be bothered making a fuss. See? Much more civilised! If this had been five years ago, I would be strangling her right now. Not that I'm considering that now, or anything.

"What about you, Al?" Trevor asked and, of course, Al jumped a mile. Bea frowned and simply got up and left for the kitchen to get more tea. "What's up in your world?"

"Oh, nothing major," Al shrugged. "Y'know, reports galore and there's rumours of trying to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament again …"

Everyone just groaned exasperatedly at that.

"Oh, come _on_!" Libby complained.

"Hell, it's _not_ going to work!" Toby said. "The stories I've heard from the last time!"

"When are they going to realise that _whatever_ they do, it's just going to blow up in their faces?" Jo agreed.

"I know!" Al pointed out as Bea returned with a tray of mugs and tea. "But seriously, that's probably the most exciting thing that's happened at work all week and Bea and I haven't had the time to do anything special, eh?"

Bea slammed the tray down with a clang onto the coffee table. Pretty much everyone yelped in shock. I caught the look on her face and Scorpius and I both said at the same time, "Oh, _shit_." Then I stared at him, because why was he staring like everything was going to explode?

… he didn't _know_, did he?

"No _time_?" Bea said, bitterly. "Oh, there's been time! _Twelve months_ of it, but that doesn't bloody matter, does it?"

"Um …" Libby muttered.

"Bea," Al looked slightly panicked now, getting to his feet hastily as Bea continued to glare in the middle of Libby's lounge. "What're you on about? Why is your face going so red?"

"Oh, so you're just _never_ going to mention it?" Bea practically snarled at him. "You're just going to keep on going, pretending that this hasn't been an issue since before Astoria died?!"

"Woe, hey!" Scorpius cut in then at the mention of his mother, leaning forward with an outstretched hand between them. "Calm down! This has _nothing_ to do with my mum, ok?"

"I'm sorry, Scorpius, but it all _started_ with your mum!" Bea cried. "I bet you know, don't you?! Al _must_ have told you! It started then, but now he's run out of excuses and thought I would be stupid enough to never find out! Did you _honestly_ think Rosie can keep a secret from me?"

"Oi!" I protested but Al and Bea didn't even acknowledge me. The others were all just staring between the two like they were at a Quidditch final, eagerly following where the Quaffle was being passed.

"What d'you want me to _say_, Bea?!" Al yelled. "I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"FINE!" Bea yelled back. "If you're going to keep pretending, I don't care! You clearly don't love me enough, so that's just BLOODY fine!" She stormed for Libby's front door and I'll admit it, I gasped.

Libby, Jo, Trevor, Harley and Toby all made several shocked sounds as Bea kept on going. Al just went after her, grabbing at her wrist. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Leaving!" Bea yanked her arm back, the other hand on the door knob.

"BEA!" Al yelled, slamming a hand on the door and making it shut, since she had just opened it. "_Tell me_ what the hell you're so pissed off about, because if it's making you doubt my love for you, then it's clearly something serious!"

Bea stared at him for several moments in which I was almost sure that she was going to whip out her wand and curse his ears off or something. Then, she yelled at him,

"I _know_, Al! I know about that bloody ring in your pocket! It's been sitting there for a _year _and you _haven't done anything about it_!"

Conclusion to rings and revelations: 

-If you're going to propose to someone, do it as soon as you get the bloody ring. Don't cart the damn thing around with you for months on end.

-Al is going to _kill_ me when he connects that it was me who told her this.

-I am going to kill Scorpius if it turns out that he did know as well, but didn't tell me.

-I have a feeling that Bea is about to kill Al in a minute. And out of family loyalty, I'll have to kill her if she kills my cousin.

-I should seriously start investing in a lawyer, because I'm going to need it once all this murder starts!

Rose: 14, Scorpius: 11.

(I'm still winning and not only by one point! That's got to count for something).

* * *

A/N: I apologise now if the chapter seems to explain a lot of stuff that you have already found out from previous chapters. The reason is that when I originally planned this story four years ago, I leapt straight into it without summarising the first four years and had to explain what had been going on since GIR. I'm afraid that I might not have edited it so well, but it's the beginning of a new year, so maybe I can justify it in explaining what's happened since last year. :)

So the story starts properly! I have to say, I think this is the first time I've ever written Bea so angry!

Also, it's been years since I last watched _Lord of the Rings _(huge fan, but have no paitence to actually sit down and watch it all again, it's too long!) so if I've screwed up any details, then I'm terribly sorry.

Thank you so much again for your support! Your reviews have all been amazing. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Reviews are always appreciated and until next time -

- Moon. :D


	7. The Disastrous One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, Harry, Ginny or disastrous dinner parties. I do, however, own the Bowmen's.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 6: The Disastrous One.

There was a very awkward silence after Bea's outburst. And when I say awkward, I mean the kind of awkward that's so horrifically stifling that I wished someone would just say something incredibly stupid to break through it. Honestly, _anything_ will do!

"… soooo, I'm thinking of buying a pet snake!" Libby said, loudly.

"Lib, shut up, this _isn't_ the time!" Toby hissed at her. Man, even _Toby_ understands the seriousness of this!

Bea just huffed and stormed away from the door, going back to her seat on the sofa next to me, crossing one leg over the other and folding her arms. I almost got up and moved; her face was terrifying. Al was still standing dumbstruck by the door. They were silent for an _excruciating _amount of time, during which Trevor fidgeted, Jo bit her lip and Al simply gaped at his girlfriend.

Eventually, I couldn't take the tension anymore. "For god's sake, say something!" I cried into the silence. "Anything!"

"You …" Al's voice was croaky. He coughed and hesitantly came forward a few paces. Bea didn't even flinch. "You … know?"

"I wouldn't screw around with this sort of thing, Al," Bea said, coldly. "_You_ on the other hand …"

"I _never_ screwed around with anything!" Al said, hotly. "I … it's just taken me a while!"

"_Why_, Al?!" Bea snapped at him. "If you wanted to marry me, you would have asked me a _year_ ago! I get that Astoria passed away and you had to concentrate on helping your best mate, but _after_ that you had time! You clearly don't love me enough!"

"Don't you _dare_ think that!" Al practically roared at her, storming towards her. "You're my whole bloody world! I would probably go mental if I didn't have you in my life!"

"Well, it doesn't _seem_ like it!" Bea yelled back, unfolding her arms and legs to lean forward, her glare lethal. Al stopped dead in his tracks. "You have no _idea_ how this feels! I find out that you've been toting around an engagement ring for a year, but haven't done one single BLOODY thing about it! The idea of marriage obviously scares the freaking HELL out of you!"

"How did you find this out?" Al asked, shrewdly.

"Rosie!" Bea called and I turned to face her with a horrified expression. Girl, seriously, he's standing right there! I made a protesting sound, but Bea ignored me completely, standing up to face Al again. Thankfully, that distracted him from trying to meet my gaze (that I was clearly avoiding) and possibly killing me. "D'you have ANY idea what this must have been like for her?! Being the only person who knew and not allowed to tell her best friend?! I'm surprised she lasted this long!"

"HEY!" I yelled, but again the two ploughed on like I didn't exist and my voice was a mere passer-by out in the street.

"She wasn't the only one!" Al scoffed. "Scorpius knew as well, I told him."

"Well, whoop-de-BLOODY-doo!" Bea yelled and I turned to give Scorpius a disbelieving look. He just raised his shoulders in an, 'I don't freaking know!' defence. "Fat lot of good that did you! She didn't know he knew! She thought she was the only one!"

"Yeah, I thought _I was the only one_ …" I ground out and Scorpius just cringed.

"I'm sorry!" he said. "But Al told me not to tell!"

"_Mate_!" Al yelled at him. "Rosie! Man, you two can't do _anything_ right, can you?"

"How the hell is this MY fault?!" I said in exasperation.

"When I tell you not to tell, that's usually your cue to start telling everyone in the entire continent of Europe!" Al cried. "You and Scorpius share _everything_, I was counting on you two telling each other and then somehow persuading me to do it!"

Amazed that my cousin would go to such depths to not have to propose himself, I just slapped my forehead in hopes that it would make me understand all this. The others were still sitting and watching this little dramatic scene play out like it was one of those Muggle daytime soap operas that Trevor insists he doesn't like watching. Bea, apparently, couldn't believe it either.

"Albus Potter, you have no idea how much I want to KILL you right now!" she screamed and I knew that she meant it. I don't think I've ever heard her use Al's full name ever since we met him. "You _always_ do this! You're always so worried about what I think that you never say anything, just wait for me to get sick of it and point it out! If I hadn't forced us to talk about marriage and kids, our relationship would probably be the exact same as it was when we first got together! Embarrassed and awkward!"

"Um, to be fair, you were also all over each other …" I pointed out. Trust me, I remembered.

Even the others shot me, _not the time, Rosie_, looks. "Well, I've got news for you!" Bea continued to yell at Al. "If you want to marry me, I'm not doing a THING about it! I'm leaving!" she added, storming up and past Al, heading for the door again. "If you think you can man up and stop me, then fine. Otherwise, see you later."

Holy buggering Merlin. She just handed Al an ultimatum on a silver platter! Doesn't she know what Al does when faces with ultimatums? He runs away! Clearly, she's learnt nothing over their eleven years of knowing each other! Pretty certain that this was going to be the end of Al and Bea's relationship, I had half a mind to hastily intervene and make them talk it out. But in a way, Bea was right. If Al couldn't step up and stop her himself, then he would never be able to. And if I intervened, I might save them now, but this scene would only end up repeating itself a few years, or months, or even weeks down the track.

Al stood dumbstruck for a moment, apparently unbelieving that Bea was actually moving towards the door once more. Then, he moved. It was a jerk, like he'd been struck by lightning and he launched himself at her, throwing himself between her and the door, arms splayed, back hitting the wood with a _thump_. Bea stopped abruptly, glaring.

"Move, Al."

"No."

"I said _move_."

"Bea," Al said, desperately. "I get it, ok? I'm bloody useless! I love you more than anything in the world, yet I've even managed to screw this up! Half the time I don't know what the heck I'm doing! Hell, you're pretty much my first serious girlfriend! I've never been in love before! How the hell am I supposed to know how this works?"

He paused, but Bea didn't say anything, except just cocked a hip and continued to glare. Libby and the others had all climbed onto the same sofa with me and Scorpius to get a better look at the two by the door, around the corner of the hallway. I'm sure we gave off the impression of floating heads or something.

Al gave an awkward throat-clearing cough. "Um, anyway … I love you. So much, you have no idea … and I'm sorry that I've screwed up everything. I just wanted it to be _perfect_ and no time seemed right, so I kept waiting for it to come along and you're right, I shouldn't have. I should have just created my own right time, because if you were, er, in that right time, then, er, it would have been … right! And – um – oh, bollocks …" Al gave a sheepish look. "I really am bloody useless at this, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are," Bea agreed. "But useless speeches and all, I love you."

"You still love me?" Al asked, tentatively.

Bea actually kicked him. "Yes, you idiot! How the hell could you think I didn't?! I'm just mad. Everyone gets mad sometimes. And to be honest, if you asked me now or in another ten years, it wouldn't matter, not really. I would still say yes."

I swear Scorpius actually squealed. Al straightened against the door, his arms flopping down to his side, daring to look hopeful. "You'd say yes?"

"D'you see me storming out that door? I could have easily thrown you aside by now."

Al grinned and I felt my face split with happiness when I caught Bea's slight smile. Al made to move forward, probably to kiss her or do something as equally stupid, but thankfully Bea stopped him, shoving on his face with her hand. "No way," she said at once. "I'm not going anywhere until you ask me properly."

Al looked surprised, though I don't know why. But he bent down so quickly I feared he'd send his knee through the floor and finally, after a whole year, he pulled the ring from his pocket.

He glanced up at Bea and seemed to be lost for words. So he just held out the ring to her and said, "Bea, I love you. Will you marry me?"

It was a very long moment. A moment in which Al's hope slowly dwindled with each passing second, Bea stared at him in what seemed like awe, Libby chewed on her thumbs and I held my breath. But finally, _finally_, Bea smiled and said, "Yeah. Yes, you idiot!"

The rest of us cheered so loudly, I thought the neighbours were going to call the flat manager about noise issues. I pretty much screamed, jumping up and down on the sofa as Bea threw her herself at Al, her arms around his neck as he simultaneously tried to stand. The result was they smashed together somewhere between standing and kneeling and they sank to the floor, unable to pull apart even for a second.

I never doubted them. Not for a second.

"YES!" Libby was yelling as Trevor and Toby danced around in a celebratory circle, holding hands. "Rosie, you owe me five Galleons!"

"_Damn it_!"

* * *

To be perfectly honest, I didn't think anything would change once Al and Bea got engaged. The three of us had always been together, right from the start. I saw them meet, I saw them fall in love, I saw them get together and we've always stayed the same! This wouldn't be any different.

So I thought.

Naturally, they were nauseating to be around; that was kind of a given. I mean, the amount of times over the next three days I walked in on them going at it right up against the –

Yeah. Never mind. It was gross, but I'd handled this before. It was annoying, but I loved them and I was _so_ happy for them, even if it did mean that I had to pay Libby. We seriously needed to stop betting on our friends' lives. For some reason, though, every time I saw them together, just smiling or giving each other _that look_, the one no one else receives but each other, I felt something crush inside me.

And I think it was jealousy.

"It's absolutely stupid!" I complained to Gerald on my break at work. While I was currently on short-term spell damage, Gerald was in plant poisoning, along with Ally. I hadn't asked how awkward it had been and he didn't say. "I love them both, but I don't want to get married! Yet, I want what they've got! What's _wrong_ with me?"

Gerald just shrugged, handing me a cup of steaming tea and sitting at the table. "Your best friends just got _engaged_, Rosie," he said. "They're starting their new lives together! That's _huge_. I reckon it'd be natural to feel left out and want to get in on the action."

"But it's more than that," I insisted. "It's more than just missing them once they are married, even though they're definitely not leaving my life anytime soon. I want … _want_ that blissful relationship! The looks, the stolen moments together, though I'd much rather stop having to keep stumbling across those …"

"Rosie, you've _got_ a perfectly fine relationship."

"No, I don't," I said, honestly. "I've got a bloke holding a bomb who makes me want to detonate it."

"That's dramatic, even for you, Rosie."

"It _is_ bloody dramatic!" I cried. "Every other night, we're rowing about _something_! Trust me, our relationship is _anything_ but healthy!"

Gerald sighed. "This is far too depressing to be discussing over our break, girl," he told me. "We should be gossiping or talking Healer-crap!"

"But–"

"Look, you might not have a perfect relationship," Gerald cut in abruptly. "But answer me this: do you love Scorpius?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Of course I do. What're you–?"

"Well, then!" he said. "That's it, isn't it? You love him, so that should be enough in my book."

I managed to crack a smile. "I knew there was a reason I kept you around." I said.

"Other than my obvious charm and good looks?"

"Clearly," I rolled my eyes. "And since you believe in love so much, does this mean that you've actually accepted the fact that you're in love with Ally?"

Gerald actually choked on his tea, spitting it out as he gasped for air. I very nearly laughed as I aimed my wand at his throat and called the spell to unblock the airway. When he could finally breathe again, Gerald's face had gone completely red. "You … aw, man …"

"It's a good thing you're not a member of my family," I pointed out. "We get moments like that all the time! I purposefully don't eat food or drink anything in the presence of my cousins anymore, if I can help it."

"Yeah, not a Weasley all right, thank god …"

"So …" I trailed off as Gerald risked another sip of tea. "C'mon! Ally?"

"God, Rosie!" Gerald cried. "You're really bringing this up _again_?"

"Yes!" I said. "It's gone on long enough! She tells you how she feels and you do nothing. You kiss and … again, you do _nothing_. You avoid each other every chance you can get, yet you're always going on about her! Whenever you see her, your face changes. I can tell. _Everyone_ can tell."

"You're bloody exaggerating again, aren't you?"

"I'm not!" I insisted. "Even Bethany can tell! Haven't you ever wondered why she's never gone after you?"

"I just figured that it was because you kept scaring her off?"

I smacked him on the arm. "I did not! Or, well, mostly. Look, she's gone after practically every bloke on this course who is straight and doesn't have a girlfriend. Mostly. But you're straight and single and she's never even made one move! Are you seriously telling me that you've _never_ wondered why?"

"I'm not about to fathom the way Bethany Cowan's mind works," Gerald pointed out. "The woman scares me half to death!"

"It's because of Ally, you idiot," I said. "Even Beth could work out that there was something going on, so she didn't go there!"

"If you're trying to make me do something, I don't know what you want me to say," Gerald said, exasperatedly. "I've done everything I can."

"The hell you have," I snorted. "Give me one time the two of you have ever sat down and actually _talked_ about how you feel?"

Gerald stared at me hard for a moment, his hand gripping his mug tightly. Then, he slammed it down and got up from his chair. "That's it! I'm late anyway, I'll talk to you later!"

"See, you can't think of any time at all!" I called out to him as he stormed off. "YOU'RE STILL IN LOVE WITH HER, I KNOW IT!"

Oh, Rosie. You do have a way with words.

* * *

For some reason, I got home that evening to find the flat in an uproar.

"What the ever-loving hell is going on?!" I cried, upon seeing the mess. Bea was currently standing in the middle of the lounge, using a mixture of magic and her hands to throw about what seemed like the entire contents of her wardrobe. A dress hit my face and I ducked a shirt as she appeared to be frantically searching.

"Rosie?!" she said. "Oh, thank god, you're home! I'm going out of my mind, here …"

"Yes, I can tell," I pointed out, rushing forward and grabbing hold of her wrist, making her stop the tornado of clothes. "Are you going to explain what's going on and why you're making it look like it's raining t-shirts?"

Bea gave me a desperate look, her eyes bloodshot. "My parents want to have dinner with Al and his family to celebrate the engagement." she said, weakly.

"Oh, _f_–" I cut myself off. "Shit girl, you're done for!"

To say Bea's family was a hard one to get along with was a _massive_ understatement. I'd only met Mrs Janie Bowmen once and it was one time too many in my opinion. Bea had neglected to tell us when we first met that she came from a very snooty, very posh upper-class British family who considered Bea's magic 'a little quirk'. Her mother was a bloody tyrant, her father hardly spoke and her older sister, Annie, was an absolute bitch. Bea avoided them the best she could and I knew that the Bowmen's scared the flipping shit out of Al. I couldn't even begin to imagine the carnage that wedding plans would bring!

"I know!" Bea whined, giving up and instead hugging me tightly. "I'm going to die! I tried to convince them not to bother, but they're insisting!"

"I can't believe they're willing to let Harry and Ginny Potter back into the house after what happened last time." I told her, patting her on the back gently.

"Their youngest daughter is getting married," Bea said, pulling back and forcing a smile onto her face. "They're going to try and do everything they can to deter it. They've hated Al since day one."

"Oh, I bet Annie wants to kill you!" I laughed, imagining the older girl's face when she found out that her sister, three years younger, had landed a fiancé before she had.

"Apparently, she put the telephone through the window," Bea grinned. "But don't worry! When they finally get over trying to stop it, they'll go seriously overboard with the planning and try and take it over _completely_!" Bea said, starting to look fearful once more. "Annie's going to be insane."

"God, what I wouldn't give to smack her …" I mused, remembering the time a couple of years ago when I had met Bea's sister during New Year's. She had told me I looked like a cow set on fire. "No offence." I added.

"None taken, I'll hold her down if you want," Bea told me. "Annie's the girl who's had her wedding planned since she was six. I hadn't even _thought_ of doing it so soon! Really, I'm twenty two! Who the hell gets married that young?"

"Heaps of people, honestly," I said, tugging her down onto the sofa with me. Really, the sofa is the only place for important conversations in this flat. "Immigrants trying to get a green card, girls who are pregnant, people who are drunk, idiots who have no idea what they're doing … but none of that's you. At least I hope it's not."

"I'm none of the above," Bea assured me. "Though I'm not sure about the idiot one."

"Bea, how long have you and Al been together?" I asked.

She shot me a look, since I obviously already knew the answer to that, but she told me anyway. "Almost seven years."

"Exactly!" I said. "Who the hell _isn't_ considering marriage after seven years?"

"Oh, I know," Bea said. "Of course, I know this isn't a mistake. We're meant to be together. But it still scares me a bit, y'know? It's like I'm signing my life away and even though I know it's the right thing and I want to do it, I'm just waiting for the terrifying moment when it comes crashing down and I'll realise that I'll have _never_ been with anyone else!"

"Oh, please," I scoffed. "That's not true. You've been in love before. Remember Parker Hadlow?"

"Oh, god, you just _had_ to bring him up, didn't you?"

"Hey, if it proves my point …"

Bea poked me in the side. "Ok, fine. I get it. But I love Al now and though I want to be with him forever … is it ok that it scares me?"

"Are you kidding?" I said, throwing an arm around her. "Freak out all you want! I'd be the same."

Despite Bea's obvious fear and worries, I found that I still envied her. Even though my previous relationship experience was probably even less than hers and that Scorpius and I still fought on a regular basis, I still wanted that surety that we would be together forever. I couldn't help but wish I was Bea for a few moments.

"I should probably tell you that I'm _completely_ jealous of you right now." I pointed out to her.

"What, seriously?" Bea grinned.

"Yes!" I said. "You and Al have it so easy! You're perfect for each other and now you're getting married! I … I want that life. The easiness of it all. Scorpius … he isn't easy."

Bea just peeled off the arm I had around her shoulder so she could hold onto my hands. "Rosie," she said. "I'll admit that you're right, you and Scorpius have always had it hard. But really, would you _want _to be any different? Sure, it might be easier, but the bickering is what makes you Rose and Scorpius. Only you two somehow manage to make that work! Did it ever occur to you that some couples might look at you fighting and wish that they were you?"

"Why the hell would they ever want to be _us_?"

"Because you can fight and suddenly be over it the next day!" Bea insisted. "Hell, you could've completely forgotten what you were arguing about less than an hour later! Some couples are forced to sleep on the sofa for weeks and some would even break up over a fight. What you and Scorpius have, it might not be easy, but you have something special, regardless. And I'll admit, Rosie, sometimes _I'm_ jealous of _you_." She smiled at me and I knew that she'd gotten her point across.

"For someone who's freaking out about dinner with her parents, you still manage to calm me down." I told her, squeezing her hands.

"Ah, hell," Bea hid her face in my shoulder. "I'd almost forgotten that!"

"Oh, don't worry, Bea," I said. "I'm dreading the moment I have to see Scorpius's dad again!"

"I'll make sure I'm there for you when you get engaged, then," Bea grinned. "Speaking of which, that ever on the cards for you?"

I shrugged. "Oh, you know … we've talk about it …"

"Rose Weasley," Bea tightened her grip. "You tell me everything right now, or I swear to god I'll–"

"All right!" I said, pulling back my hands hastily. "Jesus, Bea … look, it was a couple of years ago now. We just talked about what we wanted someday and we discovered that we both wanted to get married and have kids at some point. But trust me, we will not be heading down that road, just because of you and Al."

Bea grinned at me. "Who would have thought, our very own Rosie wants to get married!"

"Yeah, well, we've got to get through yours first!" I said, practically dragging myself to my feet. "We've got a dinner to survive!"

"We?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm going," I said, only with a trace of _duh_ in my tone. "You knew that, right?"

Bea rolled her eyes, standing up also. "Yes, of course I did," she said. "You actually want to fly into the dragons den?"

"Hey, whenever the Potters and Bowmens get together, everything goes bloody crazy!" I said. "I'm not missing out on the cool stories like last time! I'd better go dig out a helmet somewhere …"

Bea snorted. "That's pretty tame. I was thinking a fire-proof vest!"

* * *

"Remind me why you're here again?" James asked me as we walked up the large drive to the Bowmens' house.

"To make sure you lot don't blow each other up," I answered. "Oh, and to get a new story for work. They love hearing about my crazy family, have no idea why."

"Ten Galleons says Mum hits someone." James grinned.

I just laughed and shook his hand. "You're going down, mate."

I honestly thought I had my gambling habit under control, but apparently not. Ah, well, can't do much about that now. Auntie Ginny was already looking upright and ready to smack something, but I knew how strong she could be. If she forced herself not to, she wouldn't hurt a fly. Uncle Harry on the other hand … well, he may be easy-going, but he was the Boy-Who-Lived for a reason.

James was the only Potter sibling who came. A letter had been sent to Lily, wherever the hell she was now, but even if she did get it in time, I figured she wouldn't come anyway. Too busy seeing the sights and tanning herself in the sun. I was basically there for moral support. Al and Bea walked on ahead, holding hands tightly and seeming to brace themselves for the worst. Bea hadn't actually gone as far as to transfigure one of her jackets into a fire-proof vest, but she'd seriously considered it.

"It'll be fine," I said at large. "Y'know, if anyone's interested!"

"Thank you, Rose," Uncle Harry told me. "What would we do without you?"

Probably murder the entire Bowmen family, burn their house to the ground and dance in the ashes … but I'm trying to tone down the dramatic-ness in my life, so I didn't mention it.

It was all hugs and smiles and posh accents when Mr and Mrs Bowmen answered the door. Mrs Bowmen pretty much shoved Al out of the way to throw her arms around her baby girl as Mr Bowmen faked a smile and ushered us all inside. Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny spoke in high-pitched, strained voices about mundane topics and it was a wonder that no one was slitting their throat.

Eventually, Mrs Bowmen figured that she had to address everyone else. Her collar-length bouncy hair was probably once blond like her daughter's, except now it was completely white. I think she probably envied Auntie Ginny, since at 46, she still had red hair, cut slightly shorter now and tied up in a bun. Granted, my auntie's dyed her hair about a million times to get rid of the grey hairs, but it's the outward appearance that counts in her book.

"Well, welcome everyone!" Mrs Bowmen said, looking down her nose at us. "Tea is nearly ready. We want to hear all about our little Beatrice's engagement!"

"Who the bloody hell is Beatrice?" James said, a little too loudly. Mrs Bowmen sniffed and stormed off into the 'parlour'. I mean seriously, who the hell has a parlour? It's really just a fancy lounge.

"Me," Bea rolled her eyes. "She never used to call me Beatrice. No one ever does. I hate it. But, I dunno, when I turned eighteen, Mum just insisted that I was a grown woman now and should be called by my proper name. The amount of times I've nearly scratched her eyes out …"

It was no wonder James stared at her like she was about to attack him. He reluctantly led us into the 'parlour' where Mrs Bowmen was fluffing around, handing out mints and yelling at her husband to go check on the roast. The quicker we can get some food into these people, the quicker we can get out of here.

Annie Bowmen quite typically turned up late, flouncing inside just in time for tea. "I'm home, Mum!" she called, throwing her bag in the corner and chucking her coat in the general direction of a coat rack. It missed, falling to the floor in a lump and she snapped her fingers at Al, who was the closest, to go pick it up for her.

Have I said how charming she is?

"Oh, darling!" Mrs Bowmen said as Mr Bowmen called from the kitchen that dinner was ready. "How was work?"

"Oh, you know," Annie simpered. "It was _so_ tiring! I'm exhausted, I think I'll only have the energy to eat then go to bed!"

"Yes, it takes so much effort to pout at a camera all day." Bea grumbled.

"Bea," James hissed at her. "Who the hell is that? She's hot!"

"She's my sister."

All the attraction left James' face. I had to hand it to him; he's heard the stories, even if he's never met Annie before, so he knew exactly what kind of person she was already. But even I had to admit that Annie was gorgeous, with her long blond curls and big brown eyes. It was obvious that she and Bea were sisters, since the only difference was that Bea's hair was cut just above her shoulders and Annie clearly looked older. None of this mattered to James, however, once he found out who she was.

"Ah," he said. "Never mind then."

"Bea-Bea!" Annie cried in sickly sweetness that made even Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny exchange disgusted looks. Bea reluctantly accepted her older sister's hug. "Oh, you never come visit me enough! My life is so hard, I just never have the time to come see you!"

"Yeah, yeah," Bea pulled back, the smile on her face so horribly fake, I was surprised that Annie wasn't scowling at her. "So still a model then?"

"I got offered a job in Paris!" Annie said, proudly. "Can you believe it? But I turned it down, of course, once I heard that you got engaged! Someone's got to plan the wedding, right? Can't let you do it all, otherwise you'll end up having your wedding day in a village hall with a local wireless station as the music! What an atrocity that would be!"

"Oh, I've got some pretty good ideas about atrocity …" Bea said through gritted teeth.

"Don't worry, sweetie," Annie gave Bea almost a pitying smile. "Annie is here!"

"That's what worries me …" Auntie Ginny muttered.

* * *

Dinner was just an ultimate disaster, much like any of us had predicted. What I didn't anticipate, however, was just to what extent.

"So, erm …" Mr Bowmen, bless him, had managed to notice the tension at the table and had been attempting to defuse it for the past half an hour. "Bea, darling, do you still work for that magazine?"

"_Witch Weekly_, yeah," Bea nodded, seemingly thankful for a neutral topic. "My boss is still an utter bitch, but hopefully something will open up with the _Daily Prophet_."

"Language, Beatrice!" Mrs Bowmen cut in and James and I exchanged exasperated looks. "Now I don't understand why you can't just settle down with a nice _proper_ job. Really darling, journalism isn't exactly stable."

"Neither is modelling …" Auntie Ginny muttered under her breath and I snorted into my broccoli.

"Mum, we've been over this a hundred times–!"

"Now being a mother," Mrs Bowmen said, dreamily. "That there is a truly satisfying job! I can't tell you how pleased I am upon hearing you and your, erm … _fiancé_ … are getting married!"

Al just rolled his eyes, not even bothering to comment. Mrs Bowmen was lying through her teeth – she hated Al and had been trying to convince Bea to dump him for years now – and she had never been able to bring herself to call Al by his real name, not even 'Albus'. She had claimed that Albus was something you might name a cat, surely not a human being. Auntie Ginny'd actually had to hold Uncle Harry back at that one. Even now, Uncle Harry's face was tense, glaring at his dinner and stabbing at his steak.

"His name is Al, Mum, please use it."

"Now, now, darling," Mrs Bowmen chided her. "Let's not get too hasty! He did ask without seeking your father's permission, remember!"

"Look, I would have asked," Al cut in. "But I've explained the story, I've had a lot of things going on this past year–"

"Oh, yes, sad story," Mrs Bowmen ploughed on. "Your friend's mother dying like that. Shame. If she had gone to our local hospital, she would have been mended in a trice, of course, but you magical folk do tend to do whatever you want."

"OI!" I yelled at that one. "Look here, lady–!"

Annie made a disgusted sound. "How dare you yell at my mother?!" she cried.

"How dare _she_ imply that our world didn't give a damn about someone we loved dying–?!"

"ROSE!" Uncle Harry yelled over everyone. "Sit down! We can _handle_ this."

I grumbled under my breath and sat back down in my seat, though I was _not_ happy about it. Al was seething, Mr Bowmen was looking embarrassed and James was looking excited, like a show he wanted to watch was just starting.

Uncle Harry took a deep breath. "Astoria Malfoy was close to our family," he said, calmly. "Her death was tragic and couldn't be helped. Nothing could have been done, whether in your world or ours."

"Oh, honey, don't get me wrong," Mrs Bowmen waved her fork dismissively. I audibly heard Auntie Ginny mutter under her breath, "_Bitch, I'll give _you_ honey_ …" "I'm just stating a proven fact. Doctor Harlward is a genius! His testimonials are a true sense of his successes! His wife is my cousin, by the way–"

And she was off, name-dropping and bitching … blah, blah, blah. If there was some way I could rip my ears off without it hurting, I would honestly do it. Bea kept trying to cut in, but Annie would talk over her, agreeing with her mother, boasting about how beautiful she was and generally making a right arse out of herself. I couldn't believe Bea was even related to these people. At least Mr Bowmen sometimes had his merits. He didn't talk much, if at all, so while it did make him come off as a pompous prat at most times, at least he didn't have such a large gob.

Eventually, Auntie Ginny couldn't take it anymore. As Mr Bowmen quickly left to serve dessert, she put her foot down and cried, "Excuse me!" Mrs Bowmen and Annie stopped talking to outright glare. "But if you don't mind, could we discuss what we came here to talk about?"

"Of course," Mr Bowmen said, hurriedly. Al quickly stood to help him pass around bowls and ice cream. "We are honestly thrilled at the idea of our little Bea getting married–"

"Yes, yes," Mrs Bowmen huffed. "I suppose there's the matter of who's going to pay for this. I'll obviously have to pay for most of it, but I am willing to let you pay me back in small amounts–"

"_Excuse me_," Uncle Harry thundered. "But are you assuming that I won't even contribute to my own son's wedding?!"

"Well, look at you," Mrs Bowmen gestured with a hand to Al's jumper and jeans, James' inability to keep his hair straight, Auntie Ginny's fifty-year-old handbag that had been handed down from Grandma Molly, all the way down to Uncle Harry's comfortable shoes. "It's a bit obvious."

I swear he nearly leapt the table and throttled her. "That's it! I'm paying for _all_ of this wedding, _Janie_, whether you like it or not! Handle the planning, I don't care! You want a hundred live doves to be released at 'I do', go right ahead!"

"Er, Mr Potter, if I could ask you not to put ideas into her head–" Bea started, hastily.

"If you _insist_," Mrs Bowmen dragged out her answer, as if accepting his money was an exhausting decision. "But of course it would be _purebred_ doves. I won't have anything less for my daughter."

"Whatever, you can have bloody purebred swans for all I care!" Uncle Harry exclaimed. "So long as you know that we have accepted your daughter with open arms into our family and that we _can't wait_ until she's officially a Potter!"

"… you really think that?" Bea asked. Uncle Harry suddenly lost his anger looking at her, giving her a fond look. Auntie Ginny agreed.

"Of course, Bea," Uncle Harry said. "We love you and all that you've done for Al. We'll do anything we can to make your day special."

"That's within reason, of course," Annie cut in. "After all, we've already got a plan, don't we Bea-Bea?"

"No, correction," Bea snapped at her. "_You've_ got a plan. All I want is to get married. I don't care how or when, so long as it happens. Al?"

"Exactly the same," he said at once. "Please, I think I'll die of embarrassment if there are actual doves there …"

"Oh, nonsense, doves are so romantic!" Annie said. "You'll love them! Along with–"

"No offence, Annie," Auntie Ginny ground out, her hands gripping the table tightly. "But we don't give a damn what you think. It's Al and Bea's wedding, not yours."

"Wha–? How dare–?! _Mummy_!" Annie whined.

"Ginny, I know this must be a new experience to you," Mrs Bowmen snarled. "What with this likely to be the only wedding you ever get to attend for your children, but I will not tolerate you snapping at my family–!"

"What the bloody hell do you mean, _only_ wedding?!" Auntie Ginny shouted, standing up.

"Well, with one child off gallivanting the earth and _that_ being your only other option–" She pointed to James, who let out a protesting sound, despite the fact that he had been currently shoving beans up his nose out of boredom. "It's surely clear that nobody else would be willing to marry your children!"

"_That's it_!" Auntie Ginny launched herself out of her chair, but thankfully, Uncle Harry, James and I were all quick enough to respond and hold her back. Mrs Bowmen sat calmly in her chair, not having even moved. Mr Bowmen stood hastily as Al and Bea probably just silently wished they could go on their honeymoon already and leave this mess behind them.

"Look, let's all calm down a bit!" Mr Bowmen huffed. "I'm very sorry, Harry, Ginny. It is clear that none of us are willing to talk about this with level heads yet, so how about we give it a rest until we are more sure of wedding details?"

"Fine!" Auntie Ginny cried. "I was leaving anyway! Come on, Harry!" she added angrily, turning and storming straight out of the house without a backwards glance.

By the time we had finally gotten out of the house from hell and said our tense goodbyes to our family, Bea was about ready to crack. The second we got home, she fished around the kitchen and procured a stray wine bottle from somewhere.

"I don't know about you," she said, tapping the cork with her wand. "But that _did_ go better than I expected! I need a bloody drink …"

Conclusion to dinner with the Bowmen's, engagement and other disastrous things: 

-The Bowmen's are highly dangerous individuals. Do not approach under any circumstances. If encountered, do not engage, but contact the nearest Auror. There is a hundred Galleon award for anyone who can subdue the beast, Mrs Janie Bowmen.

-I'm absolutely serious, Bea actually suggested we put a bounty on her mother. Luckily, James paid out so I wasn't tempted. At the present time, at least.

-Despite the utter madness, Al finally did it! And let's face it, that was only a minor disaster, so I consider that a success.

Rose: 14, Scorpius: 12.

(I still haven't got my gambling habit under control. When will I learn?).

* * *

A/N: First of all, I hope everyone had a wonderfully merry Christmas! Mine was excellent and I spent the entire day getting sunburned on the beach (oops!). I wish everyone a happy new year. Next time CGIR gets updated, it will be 2013! Exciting!

So this is only your first glimpse at the Bowmen's. In GIR, there was basically no reason to include Bea's family, except for the brief mention that Bea has an older Muggle sister, so I've never gotten to expand their characters until now. While horrible people, Janie and Annie Bowmen are so much fun to write and they will definitely be popping up throughout this story. :)

And they're engaged! Finally. Al and Bea were always going to be the first to get married, no arguments about it. I'm glad you're all enjoying the story so far! Your reviews have been so great, seriously.

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	8. The Happy One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, anniversaries or feeling happy.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 7: The Happy One.

October used to be a pretty cheerful month for us. The weather wasn't terrible (yet) our routines for the year were fully established and even Bea's boss from hell, Monica Dodge, went on leave for three whole weeks as she went to America for her cousin's birthday. Even this year, it should have been a great month, thanks to Al and Bea's engagement!

But none of that changed anything. October still only reminded us of this time last year when Astoria Malfoy passed away.

"Are you sure you don't mind doing this?" Scorpius muttered as we walked towards the cemetery. "I could have easily come with Dad …"

"Just shut up and keep walking," I insisted, squeezing his hand. "You know your dad would be a nightmare in this situation. Now are _you_ ok doing this?"

Scorpius glanced at me. "To be honest, I feel kind of sick. But yes. I want to this."

Why Scorpius wanted to go visit his mum on the anniversary of her death was a bit beyond my comprehension. He said it was so he could catch her up on all that had happened throughout the year and while I personally couldn't see the point talking to a hunk of rock, I wasn't going to let him go alone. But to be perfectly honest, I missed Astoria a lot. Out of my parents and Scorpius's, she had probably been the most supportive of our relationship. Let's face it, Dad and Mr Malfoy were just at each other's throats all the time (and still are on occasion) and my mum thought the Malfoy's were a bunch of hypocrites for saying that the Death Eaters were wrong for what they did in the name of Lord Voldemort. Astoria, despite her family being Pureblood and in quite deep with the war, had come out never having supported any of it and as a result, faintly normal compared to the rest of the nutcases in my family.

Yeah, I missed her. We used to have brilliant conversations about the idiot men in our lives.

Astoria was buried at a church in the town near the Malfoy's manor house. There were several generations of Malfoy's there and Scorpius and I walked past all of them to reach Astoria's grave, still looking as clean and fresh as the day of the funeral, except now it was covered in grass, blooming flowers and paper windmills. I couldn't believe it had been a year already.

"Hey, Mum." Scorpius said quietly, bending down on one knee in front of the headstone.

_Astoria Hillary Malfoy (née Greengrass) _

_6 May 1982 – 23 October 2027 _

_She will always be loved _

"Hi, Mrs Malfoy … Astoria … Mrs Malfoy?" I said, slightly awkwardly. I mean, I could never call her Astoria to her face, but well … she's kind of dead now. And I'm talking to a rock. "Nice to, um, see you …"

Scorpius just shot me a look and I muttered, "Sorry." Luckily, he didn't seem offended, but took hold of my hand tightly as I bent down onto my knees next to him.

"Well, it's been a year," Scorpius said with a sigh. "I wanted to … well, come say hi. Rosie's here too, as you know."

"Well, actually she doesn't know …" I pointed out and Scorpius gave me an almost desperate look. This was so difficult.

"Rose, this is my _mum_," he said, softly. Then he turned back to the headstone and said, "Sorry about her. Rose doesn't exactly see the point in talking to your headstone. Seems to think once you're gone, you're gone."

"But I think you're here!" I quickly added and Scorpius gave me a grateful smile. "Totally, Mrs Malfoy! You can hear me, right? Am I talking loud enough?"

Scorpius just snorted, as if to apologise for bringing a crazy lunatic to a graveyard with him, but he didn't say anything about it. "Dad's doing ok," he said to the gravestone. "Well, better than before. The anniversary is sort of cutting into him, but we're looking after him. He said he'd come down and see you later. Erm … work is fine, I guess. Just finished this huge trial last week, where a wizard was using a Muggle as their slave. Rose's mum, Mrs Weasley, got him locked up, don't worry. I was on the investigation team!" Scorpius gave a faint smile. "I got paid overtime. Rosie wasn't too happy, though, we hardly saw each other."

"I can agree with that," I put in. When Scorpius encouraged me to keep talking I gulped. God, this was more awkward than I thought. "Er, my work is good as well. In my last year of training now! Course that means everyone's gone mental, trying to please our bosses to get fully accepted and now on top of that we have to deal with the bloody Bowmen's."

"Oh, yeah!" Scorpius actually grinned. "My best mate, Al? Rose's cousin? He's getting married! Proposed to his girlfriend, Bea, two weeks ago! They're so happy, but the problem now is Bea's mother and older sister are …"

"Deranged?" I suggested.

"That works," Scorpius nodded. "They're deranged! They have the whole wedding planned out and Bea couldn't care less. She and Al just want a simple wedding, nothing to stress over. They keep talking about eloping, but I don't think they'd do that to their families in the end … but other than that, they're doing well. So basically, nothing much has changed really, has it?" He gave a sigh. "For me at any rate. As for Rose and I …" I squeezed his fingers and he grinned. "We're fine, still together," he told Mrs Malfoy. I still felt rather stupid. "Sometimes I wonder why, but–"

"Oi!" I jabbed him with his elbow.

"I'm joking! Geez, can you not row with me in front of my mother?"

"She's not even here, Scorpius! It doesn't matter!" I burst out.

The two of us stared at each other for a moment, before Scorpius broke it to glance dejectedly at the headstone. He let go of my hand and turned away slightly. Even if I hadn't have heard him sniff, I could have told from the stiffness in his back that he was crying.

"Ah, shit …" I said quietly. When he wouldn't face me, just kept his back to me, I stood on my knees and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Scorpius, I'm so sorry, it's ok … I'm sorry …"

"I …" Scorpius felt my arms around him and he twisted his fingers together with mine once again. "I just want to talk to her, Rosie … properly, with her next to me and able to answer and talk back to me. To give me advice, laugh with me … I'm just an idiot talking to a slab of concrete."

Truth be told, that was exactly what I was thinking. But I felt something while talking. Even though I realistically knew that Mrs Malfoy was somewhere else now where she couldn't interact with us, I felt connected somehow while speaking, like I knew that she was at least still listening. And it didn't matter if that was true or if it was just in my head.

"You're an idiot," I agreed, face muffled against his jacket. "But not about this. I'm sorry. You're talking to your _mother _and I'll bet she's here right now, listening to you. She might not be able to answer, but I'm sure she _cares_ …"

"There is no possible way you could know that."

"Of course there isn't," I shrugged. "But that doesn't mean I can't believe it."

"You _don't _believe it."

"But _you_ do," I insisted to his back. "and … that's ok, Scorpius. That's ok."

Scorpius was silent for so long that I was sure that he was going to give up on this all together and storm off out of the graveyard. But slowly, he turned around in my arms to first kiss me on the cheek, then throw an arm around me as he faced the headstone.

"I'm sorry, Mum," he said, quietly, leaning his head against mine. "To be honest, it's been hard. But Dad and I, we're learning how to get by, and I've got Rosie. She's just been brilliant, Mum. I wasn't going to go to your funeral and almost didn't, if it hadn't been for her. I love her as much as I loved her when I was thirteen. She's … she means the world to me."

"Well, steady on …" I added, but I couldn't help but grin at Scorpius's words.

He traced a pattern with his finger on my shoulder absently. "If there's one thing you figured out, Mum, it was that what Rosie and I have is special," Scorpius said. "You made Dad realise that as well, even if he wasn't particularly happy about it. I want to say thank you."

"Thank you, Mrs Malfoy," I added. "You were the one Malfoy who didn't piss me off."

Scorpius didn't protest that one, just rolled his eyes. "I love you, Mum," he said. "And I promise, we'll come visit you more often this next year. I'll come down with Dad later, ok?"

"Bye, Mrs Malfoy." I said and we hastily got to our feet, brushing grass and autumn leaves off us.

As we were leaving the graveyard, Scorpius paused along the path to kiss me, quickly, but firmly enough for me to be embarrassed that we were in public. When he pulled away, I ignored my burning neck and asked, "What the flipping hell was _that_ for?"

"For coming with me," Scorpius admitted. "I know you didn't really want to, but you did it anyway. For me. And also just for being Rosie. Thank you for today."

"You're welcome."

* * *

And I thought taking to Mrs Malfoy at the graveyard was hard to suffer through. I mean, when Al and Bea got engaged, I witnessed them becoming the most nauseating people to be around, but this is just getting bloody ridiculous!

"But I _love_ summer!" Bea was saying the next day, sitting on Al's lap at the dining table, the two of them flipping through a calendar together. "Middle of July, August, that would be perfect!"

"Bea, your mother would go absolutely spare if she had to plan our entire wedding in nine months!" Al told her.

"She'd probably think you were pregnant!" I called over, helpfully.

Al shot me a look, but continued, "And no matter what you say, Bea, Mrs Bowmen frightens me. I am not doing _anything_ that angers her!"

"Aw, stop being such a push-over!" Bea complained. "It's like you don't even want to get married!"

"I don't want to be married in a rush, with live doves and a bloody elephant holding your veil down the aisle!" Al said, exasperatedly. "All I want is to marry _you_!"

Bea turned to smile at him. "Oh, Al!" she said before kissing him right in front of me.

"Oh, c'_mon_!" I cried, adverting my eyes, but not before grabbing hold of a cushion and throwing it at them. I was currently sprawled out on the sofa, trying to read up on lifting supressed memories and waiting for Scorpius to get home from work, but it was proving difficult with Mr and Mrs Gross-ness. "I _live_ here! I don't want to be scarred every other second! Just pick a bloody date already!"

"I'm serious, I want July," Bea insisted, dodging my cushion and ploughing on like she hadn't even heard me. "Or August, I don't care, just in the summer!"

Al rolled his eyes, but agreed, causing another squeal and another kiss. Lord, just murder me now, seriously.

"Oh, you two really should just elope …" I put in.

Al and Bea broke apart to glance back at me. "Trust me, we've considered it," Bea said, seriously. "Jetting off to, I dunno, Paris or the Bahamas, Merlin that would be divine …"

"But we figured that my mum would kill me," Al shrugged. "Mrs Bowmen would kill Bea. Then they'd both get together to dance on our graves, even though they hate each other."

"We also want to move in together," Bea added and Al smiled at her fondly. "But again … Mum and the whole 'killing' thing. Thought that might be a bit of a downer …"

"Reckon you could have a word to Scorpius?" Al asked me and my stomach lurched when I realised what he was suggesting. "I mean, if we buy a house now, it'll be fairly obvious and Mrs Bowmen's really uptight about this whole '_pure until married_' thing," He rolled his eyes as I let out a bout of hysterical laughter. Yeah, 'pure' for those two I'm guessing went out the window several years ago. "But if Bea and Scorpius just swap flats …"

"You think _we'd_ be ok living together?" I asked in amazement. "I mean, you _do_ know what happens if we're together longer than five minutes, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, the screaming starts and someone ends up crying," Bea rolled her eyes. "But c'mon! We all know you're _perfect_ for each other and chances are you'll get married someday, too! Obviously you don't have to, but it would make it so much easier!"

I didn't know what to think. Scorpius and I had discussed living together sometime last year, shortly before his mum passed away. It came up as a joke and we'd sort of laughed it off, agreeing that we'd probably tear each other's throats out. We conveniently chose to leave out the fact that we spent practically every night together anyway and had once even shared a tooth brush.

Yes, we were avoiding the issue. No, we'd _so_ never done _that_ before …

"I'll try talking to him," I said to my best friends and they both grinned in happiness. I couldn't really crush their hope, not while they're still in their post-engagement bliss period before the wedding planning turns them into monsters. "We practically live together anyway, I guess."

"Oh, thank you, Rosie!" Bea said and Al hugged her around the waist in excitement. She squealed, turning to kiss him again and I supressed yet another groan. Those two really were disgusting.

Thankfully (or unthankfully, depending how you looked at it) Scorpius had apparently finished work because he chose that moment to come bursting into the flat, looking terrified. He stood in the doorway, tense like he was about to duel someone. Al and Bea broke apart, turning to stare as I sat up straight in alarm.

"Everyone, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Scorpius yelled, before slamming the front door shut and locking it. "THE DEMONS ARE COMING! GODZILLA HERSELF LEADS THEM!"

I honestly almost screamed. Al, Bea and I leapt up in a panic, hiding our steaming mugs of tea, turning the lights out and throwing ourselves into our usual hiding places. I swore loudly as I scraped my arm, wiggling backwards behind the sofa, but I didn't care. So long as I wasn't caught! _Nothing_ was worth that.

"Oi! Move over!" I found that I couldn't wiggle back anymore thanks Scorpius being in the way. My head was still sticking out. "I'm right in the line of fire!"

"Get your own hiding space!"

"I was here first–!" Footsteps sounded beyond the door, in the hallway.

"Never mind!" Scorpius hissed and he managed to make room for me as Al dove into the bathroom and Bea ran to her room, skidding under her bed.

The knock at the door sent shivers down my spine. If we were caught, we were done for.

OK, so we _may_ be taking wedding planning with Janie and Annie Bowmen a little bit too seriously, but I was _not_ exaggerating one bit when I said that being alone with those two for any more than five minutes was damaging to your mental health. All of us were so sick of the wedding planning already and it hadn't even really started yet! Apparently, we were still working out 'the big stuff', yet Mrs Bowmen would counter any suggestion given and Annie would definitely have her dreaded _Wedding Folder of Fun-time Happiness_. Yes, she actually called it that. Yes, I actually wanted to kill her.

It had gotten to the sad point now, where we were literally hiding from them, pretending no one was home so we wouldn't have to suffer yet another two hours of picking flowers or table centres or some other useless aspect of weddings. Seriously, all you need is a place, date, time and people and _bam_, you've got a wedding! (Booze optional).

Mrs Bowmen banged on the door again, harder this time, and I heard Queen Godzilla herself calling Bea's name. Annie had been dubbed Queen Godzilla by Scorpius ever since he had questioned her reasoning behind having lace tablecloths, as opposed to normal tablecloths and she had just about bitten his head off, going into a huge rage about how lace was delicate and only fit for a queen.

"Yeah, Queen Godzilla …" Scorpius had muttered and it had only been Bea jumping on her sister that prevented Annie from scratching Scorpius's eyes out.

So far, Mrs Bowmen and Queen Godzilla had fallen for our little 'we're not home' trick, but it was becoming harder and harder, since they kept ringing our fellytone beforehand to find out if we were indeed home before 'popping over for five minutes'. We'd sort of taken to not answering it now. It's not like we get many calls on that thing anyway. We keep it around, mainly because it amuses my dad. Anyway.

"She's probably at work, Mum," Queen Godzilla's annoying voice was saying loudly. "They do journalism stuff at night, right?"

"Only once a month on printing nights, you idiot …" I sighed under my breath. Scorpius heard me and had to supress a snort of laughter. After another round of banging and yelling, the two outside finally gave up and left, their loud poncy voices still faintly heard even as they left the hallway and started down the stairs.

Scorpius and I squeezed ourselves out from behind the sofa as Al emerged from the bathroom and flicked the lights back on. Bea dragged herself back into the lounge with a groan. "We can't keep doing this," she said, going straight to Al and hugging him. "I swear, we really need to move! Screw down the hall, I heard that there're some flats being rented out in Ealing–?"

Suddenly, there was another bang on the door and all four of us screamed at the top of our lungs. Shit, this was it! We were done for! We were going to have to suffer through hours of frilly lace and posh accents! _I was going to die_!

"What the hell? Who's being murdered in there?!" came a rough, Manchester accent, very obviously no one from Bea's family. "Why's the door locked? Let me in!"

Sighing with relief, we let Libby tumble inside. She glanced around in confusion, throwing her black hair behind her shoulder as she gave each of us suspicious looks. "You weren't hiding from the Bowmen's again, were you? I just saw them on the stairs …"

"No, no!"

"Not at all!"

"I love my dear family!" Bea assured hastily. Libby just laughed.

"Don't worry," she said. "I think they're all cows too, I don't blame you. I'm guessing you could all do with a drink?"

* * *

"I'm so sick of it!" Bea was complaining over her glass of wine. Yes, very classy. "The planning, the bloody tablecloths! I don't flipping care!"

"Ever considered strangling them?" Libby asked. When we stared at her, she shrugged. "I dunno, it's just a suggestion …"

"I'll gladly to it," I grumbled. "You know the last time Queen Godzilla was over, she claimed that I screwed up all her plans and made her have to change her entire _Wedding Folder of Frick'n Bollocks_ or whatever the hell she calls it. All because I have red hair and will clash with her colour scheme! What the hell?"

"Yeah, she even tried to get me to change my choice of Maid of Honour," Bea grinned. "I was so not doing it."

"You're Maid of Honour?!" Libby cried, practically leaping our table at the Leaky Cauldron to throw herself at me. "Oh, that's fantastic!"

"And such a shock, we've only been best friends for eleven years!" I gasped out through Libby's hug.

"Who's best man, then?"

"Who d'you think?" Al gestured to the blond bloke next to him. "It was either him or James. Naturally I chose Scorpius."

Libby gave out another shriek before leaping and hugging Scorpius, too. Libby had taken us all out for a drink, which we were all very grateful for. At first I worried that it was too soon for Scorpius to be celebrating life's happiness (or in this case, bitching about the Bowmens), seeing as he'd just been through the anniversary of his mother's death, but he seemed cheerful enough. Al and Bea complained about the exhaustion of planning a wedding, though I noticed that a smile never left their faces.

Weirdoes.

Libby happily told us the story of her enquiring about how much getting a pet snake would cost; apparently, she had been joking at first, but Libby was never known for only doing things half way. While she spoke about how the running costs of buying mice for the snake to eat were too ridiculous, I suddenly felt Scorpius's foot move, from where our outstretched legs were tangled together under the table. Sat opposite him, I shot him a look as he kicked his foot out of his shoe, running his toes up my leg. I shivered, but he didn't even look non-pulsed.

He's supposed to be sad and he's busy feeling me up! What a bastard.

"… so I decided against it in the end," Libby was saying, sat at the head of the table, with Al and Bea on either side of her. "I mean, it'd be cool, but I'm pretty sure we're not allowed pets anyway. Not that the managers know about the odd owl or two who come flying in."

"Like Layla!" Bea pointed out. "Eh, Rosie?"

"What?" I turned to face her, trying to ignore Scorpius's caressing of my leg. He was starting to smirk now at my obvious discomfort. "Snakes, yes, never liked them."

"I was sort of talking about your owl." Bea smiled.

"Ah, yes!" I said quickly. "Owls – er – letters from Lily!" My disjointed brain somehow managed to come up with something to say, even if it had taken me a strange way to get there. "I haven't heard from LL in a while, I _hope_," I ground out the word, using my free leg that wasn't currently being fondled to pin Scorpius's to the floor, glaring at him. "that she is having a good time!"

Libby laughed, none of the others even noticing that I was currently waging a war against my boyfriend, shooting glares at him as he tried to kick his leg free. "Well, LL's a Potter, isn't she?" Libby said. "I'm sure she's having a brilliant time!"

After another short glance at Scorpius, I asked my friend, "So how's the café? You still working there?"

"On the weekends," Libby admitted. "I thought I'd finally be able to quit once I got a proper job as a Cursebreaker, but turns out that if I want to go to the cool countries, like Egypt and Italy, I need money. Really wish I could just quit. James is driving me up the bloody wall."

"I thought you changed your hours so you didn't have to work with him?" Al asked.

"I did!" Libby said indignantly. "But then there was this whole change in management thing and we both have other jobs now, so the weekends are all either of us can do … anyway. It doesn't matter that much. I ignore him as much as possible, but he's such a prick to all the other waitresses!"

"James is a prick to everyone as a general rule," Al pointed out. "You have to learn to love him."

"All I've learnt so far is how to shove him off a very high cliff."

I found all this rather ironic, considering Libby had slept with James a few years ago. Granted, she had been horribly drunk and 'trying to forget the whole thing' had been rather easy, since she couldn't remember anything from that night, but she'd still somehow thought it was a good idea at the time. For a while, James had gone after her, but after being turned down so many times, he admitted to me last year that he couldn't be bothered anymore. He has since gotten off with a blond 'actress', who I think has been in one stage play, an eighteen year old dancer who worked at a strip club part time and none of us could forget the 'Penelope Stage'; the girl had pink hair and wore leather! She lasted all but a week. I truly worry about my cousin. Fred's a bad influence on him. It was his idea that he and James be eternal bachelors and Fred's never exactly been known for his smart plans.

"Ah, well, in the end we always knew it would be Libby Fletcher murdering James Potter," Bea laughed. "You still going out with that Tyler bloke?"

"Oh, god no!" Libby looked disgusted. "He got all weird and serious, asking me to move in with him and wanting to meet my parents. I mean, what the hell? Who does that after two weeks?"

"AH!" I suddenly shrieked, causing the others to all stare at me, Scorpius trying and failing to not crack up into laughter. He had gotten his leg free and I had decided on the plan of attack of completely ignoring him. Unfortunately, that was shot to hell the second his caressing went further; across my inner thigh and under my skirt.

"… you all right, Rosie?" Libby asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Bloody fantastic!" I gasped out. "I just mean – god! That Tyler bloke, what a freak – HOLY–!" I was forced to cut off my yell as I kicked Scorpius viciously in the shin. It barely even phased the bloody arsehole and I suddenly stood up, away from his wandering foot. "I'm so sorry, Lib, but there's – erm – something I forgot to do at home! Scorpius, come with me?" I shot him a look that very clearly said, _you do _not _have a choice_.

"Um, righty-ho then …" Libby just stared at us as Scorpius simply nodded as he stood, discreetly shoving his foot back in his shoe before accepting my outstretched hand and I yanked him out from behind the table, the entire time holding back a grin.

"Yes, sorry we've got to go!" I said, dragging Scorpius towards the door of the Leaky Cauldron. "See you later, don't wait up!"

Just as we were leaving the pub, I very clearly heard Libby mutter, "Well, I wonder what _they're_ off to do …" followed by her, Al and Bea all laughing hysterically. Bloody marvellous, the lot of them. I ignored them completely as I huffed out into the street.

"Ok, ok," Scorpius said as I practically threw him against the pub wall. "I know you probably want to kill me, but–"

I grabbed the sides of his face and crashed my lips to his before he could even finish. Scorpius kissed me back, though I could feel his confusion in his reluctance to wrap his arms around me. I thought it rather ironic, seeing as he was the one who had been previously feeling me up underneath the table. When I pulled away, it was to see him looking rather stunned. "U-hum …" he stared. "… what the buggering hell was that for?"

"What d'you _think_?" I snarled. "I'm still bloody angry at you, but I swear if you don't take me home within the next five seconds, that will be the last kiss you _ever_ get!"

I don't think I'd ever seen him Disapparate so quickly in his life.

* * *

"I seriously hate you …" I gasped, sprawled out on my back and staring at my bedroom ceiling. "I mean it, you're an utter bastard …"

"But you'll forgive me eventually, right?" Scorpius grinned, rolling over to throw an arm over me. I turned to look at his face and his expression softened my anger. Y'know, only slightly.

"I really have no idea why I love you," I said, honestly. "Seriously, I don't have a bloody clue."

"Because I'm always there for you when you want a shag?"

"Piss off." I said, kicking him in the leg, though I tried not to let him see my smile.

"Ok, because love is irrational and you didn't get a choice in the matter?"

"Yes!" I said. "I like that one!"

Scorpius just continued to grin at me. "I don't know why I love you, either."

It actually should have been a concerning thought. I mean, despite the bloke making me simultaneously look like an idiot and making me want to leap the table and have my way with him right there in the Leaky Cauldron, I still loved him. It worried me that I couldn't figure out why. Surely everyone has a reason? Like, they saved them from danger, they helped them out at work, they have a gorgeous smile, they make an excellent lasagne … the list goes on! When it came to Scorpius, it sort of felt like the love had just sprung from nowhere! To this day, I _still_ can't figure out when I fell in love with him.

Scorpius interrupted my thoughts by leaning over and kissing me; however, after a few moments, I pulled away to say, "… so, something I've been meaning to ask: you _knew_ about Al's plans to propose, then?"

"Ah …" Scorpius looked rather sheepish, rolling off me to try and find some clothes that we'd thrown somewhere. "Look, my mum had died all but a few months ago and Al could tell I needed a bit of cheering up! But he made me swear not to tell you!"

"Since when have we ever paid attention to a minor detail like that?" I said, indignantly. I found a pair of knickers that had been flung carelessly on the floor to put on and Scorpius's t-shirt that I tugged over my head. Scorpius smirked when he turned and saw myself in his shirt; he'd always claimed it was sexy when I wore his clothes, though I had no idea why. The thought of him wearing one of my bras or something was rather disturbing (even if something I'd pay to see).

"Hey," Scorpius complained, jumping back onto my bed and dragging me with him, pulling me against his chest. "You didn't tell me, either!"

"I promised I wouldn't tell!" I cried. "And besides … I sort of did mention it to you … but you were kind of half-conscious at the time."

"Doesn't count."

"What? It totally counts!"

"Clearly it doesn't, because I don't even remember it!" Scorpius argued and I squirmed out of his arms to face him on my knees. "C'mon, Rosie! Al was counting on our inability to keep anything a secret, yet this particular one we actually keep for a change?"

"Well, _sorry_ if I thought this was important!" I grumbled, folding my arms tightly.

Scorpius sighed exasperatedly. "I really worry about us, sometimes," he moaned, flopping back into his pillow, eyes closed. "We never seem to get anything right!"

I stared at him for a moment, his expression hitting me hard. I had spent the better part of five years trying to get things right and now, it seemed that I hadn't even managed to do _that_ properly! "Scorpius, are you happy?" I found myself asking.

Scorpius cracked open an eye. "At this moment? Not particularly, but with life itself in general, I suppose it's not too bad … why?"

"Because," I thought for a moment, trying to find a way to say what I wanted without causing another argument. "You _shouldn't_ be. You should be feeling sad that your mum has been dead a whole year and guilty because you and your dad barely talk about it! You should be angry at your girlfriend for bringing it up and being a nuisance as per usual and you should be annoyed that your attempts to frustrate her only resulted in her wanting sex!"

"… are you describing what I'm feeling, or how you're feeling?" Scorpius asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I shouldn't be happy, but I am!" I complained. "You … you're _infuriating_ and I still can't figure out why I love you, but I _do_! I love you and I'm happy and it's _pissing me off_!"

Scorpius gave me a bemused look, sitting up next to me. "Rosie, you _do_ realise how ridiculous you sound, right?" he asked. When all I did was moan and hide my face in his shoulder, he threw an arm around me and said, "Rosie, our best friends just got _engaged_. We have each other, good jobs, good friends … yeah, our lives haven't been easy, but why shouldn't we be happy?"

"It doesn't make any sense." I said, my voice muffled by his shoulder.

"Rosie, you and I have _never_ made sense," Scorpius pointed out. "Why the hell should we start now?"

Conclusion to anniversaries, wedding planning with Queen Godzilla and being happy: 

-Talking to a headstone is strangely therapeutic. I recommend it.

-It didn't take long for the Bowmen's to realise that we were always pretending to not be home. The bitches went and stole Bea's keys, getting an extra key cut without her knowing. Now, even if we lock the door with magic, they still manage to get in!

-That sounded resentful, didn't it? No, that's bad, I'm happy!

-Being happy feels weird. Is this what a normal relationship feels like?

Rose: 14, Scorpius: 13.

(That debacle at the Leaky Cauldron is quite obviously a point for him).

* * *

A/N: Um, really not much to say about this one. It was originally merged with the next chapter, but as I went over them, it was starting to become two concepts within the one chapter. So I split them into this one (happy) and the next chapter (sick).

I hope you all liked it and happy 2013 to everyone! Your reviews are still amazing, of course, thank you _so_ much.

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	9. The Sick One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius or feeling sick.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

_This chapter is dedicated to **bekeyboo**, for her amazing continued support for CGIR. Thank you._

* * *

Chapter 8: The Sick One.

I'm usually an early riser, thanks to my crazy schedule as a trainee Healer. I'm rather used to leaping out of bed at ungodly hours of the morning, something that irritates Bea to no end, especially when I bang around in the kitchen (as she puts it) making tea and breakfast. I don't think I've ever had a sleep-in on purpose since … forever.

But for some reason, one morning in November, I couldn't even get out of bed past noon.

"Oh, godddddd …" I moaned, rolling over with my head pounding. "What the hell is _wrong_ with me? Did I get horribly drunk last night …?"

"Not exactly," Bea's bright voice said, edging into my room, using her shirt to cover her nose and mouth. I swear, I was happy to see her! But all I could manage was another moan. I hoped she took that as Rosie-code for _pleeeeease explain to me why I feel like crap!_ "I'm afraid you're rather sick, Rosie."

"Nooooo!" I cried, muffled into my pillow. "I've got work at nine! I've got to–"

"Well, considering it's lunch time, I don't think you're going anywhere." Bea smirked behind her shirt and I moaned another complaint. Great, I was going to be kicked off my course just because I have some son of a bitch germ having a party in my stomach!

Oh, now I feel woozy …

"Bea–"

"Oh, keep your knickers on," Bea rolled her eyes as she came and sat down next to me, keeping one hand covering her face and using the other to smooth back my mess of hair from my face. "I owled down when I came to see why you weren't up and you were practically unconscious. I sent it to that receptionist, Catie? She knows you won't be in for the next few days at least."

"But I _hate _being sick!" I almost literally cried at that.

"I know," Bea said, her voice soothing, the stroking of my hair calming me down. "But if you want to get better, you've got to stay in bed! I'll bring you in some tea and I can owl your friends from work to come round and bring some medicine?"

"Both of them?" I actually smiled at the thought of both Gerald and Ally being forced to work together to come visit their sick friend. "Actually, yes, do that. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Bea smiled. "I'm afraid it's late night printing tonight, so I've got to go in to work soon and won't be back until at least ten. But Al and Scorpius both get off around five, so no doubt they'll come visit you while you're on your death bed!"

"Gah," I groaned, rolling over onto my back. "I feel like dying. Your voice is killing my brain. I love you, but shut–" I was forced to cut myself off because that was when basically everything I had for tea last night decided it wanted to come back up. I retched over my bed and Bea practically jumped backwards.

She was clearly trying not to laugh. "I'll go get a bucket then, shall I?" she asked.

* * *

I was sick for three days or so, during which I had so many visitors, you would have thought I actually _was_ dying. Most of the time I was comatose under my bed covers in between vomiting my guts out, so I didn't even register their arrival, but others I remembered a bit more clearly.

The first to arrive was Gerald and Ally, who had actually laid aside their petty squabbles and dramas to come together. Holding a load of different potions that they had gotten for a huge discount at the St Mungo's pharmacy, I was actually glad to see them. "Gerald … Ally …" I murmured the second they knocked on my bedroom door and stepped through with grim smiles. "You came … at the same time …"

"Wasn't my idea." Ally muttered, folding her arms.

Gerald just scoffed at her, but held out the bag of potions. "We got you these!" he said, trying to sound bright. "Bea told us you were hacking and retching all over the place, and she was right, it smells _disgusting_ in here, so I got you Stomach-Calming, Headache-Relieving, along with a load of vitamins and stuff that I didn't understand, but Ally said would help–"

"It _will_." Ally cut in, shooting an exasperated look at Gerald.

"Thank you, guys." I told them, attempting a smile. I'm sure I looked like hell, curled up in a ball right at the side of my bed, should I need to throw up again, but Gerald and Ally didn't seem to mind. I supposed having worked in magical diseases several times over our training years, one sick person was nothing to them. "… how'd you get in here?"

"The door was unlocked," Ally told me, sitting on the edge of my bed as Gerald leaned against the wall opposite, setting the potions down on my bedside table. "Bea says you basically haven't locked it for five years. Forgive me when I say that sounds rather counter-productive against thieves."

"What can I say? We're trusting …" I muttered, eyes closed. Despite my pounding head, their voices were soothing and were taking my mind off my churning stomach. "I'm not missed at work, right?"

"Missed?" Gerald actually laughed and even Ally gave a smile. "Hell, basically everyone was wondering where the hell you were! When Catie told the trainees you were sick, Margo made a huge card for everyone to sign! It's in the bag with the potions."

"I feel like I'm famous," I managed a smile. "And thank you. For coming to see me."

"Of _course_ we would come and see you." Ally said straight away like I was talking nonsense.

"No," I waved a hand vaguely. "I mean thanks for coming _together_. Thanks for forgetting that everything's shit between you right now. Though it's your own fault."

"Oh," Both Gerald and Ally exchanged uncomfortable looks. "Well, Bea said you wanted both of us …"

"I don't care," I said, reaching up with my waving hand and taking hold of Ally's tightly along with giving Gerald a smile. "Thank you."

I liked to think that I made them reconsider, as I saw them exchange looks as they both tried to leave my bedroom door at the same time. But most likely, it just caused another argument. Ah, well. That was about when I passed out again.

That evening, Al and Scorpius finally came to visit me in my sickbed. Or, well, Al sort of saw me, through the bandana he had tied around his face as he stuck his head around the door. As Scorpius strode straight in and jumped down next to me, feeling my forehead, Al refused to even come into my room. "You feeling all right, Rosie?!" he called.

"No!" I moaned back.

"You look like shit." Scorpius helpfully pointed out for me.

I just groaned into my pillow. "Go away!"

"Bea said you've got to take your medicine," Scorpius chided, making me sit up before picking up several potion bottles, reading the labels and giving them a shake. "I'm here to make you."

I reluctantly accepted one of the potions. Scorpius was forced to leap to the side as I practically spat the potion out. It tasted _that_ disgusting. "Holy shit, what the hell _is_ this? Cat pee?"

"It's supposed to help with your head," Scorpius said, checking out the label once more. "Says it's a lovely lemon flavour."

"The only way that shit could be lemon flavoured is if the cat had been eating a lot of them," I muttered. Then, I made a frustrated sound, rubbing my neck with my hand. "Talking hurts! Throat's sore," I glanced up at Scorpius, warily. "You're going to get sick too, if you stay for very long."

"A risk I'm willing to take," Scorpius said, almost cheerfully. I glared at him and his smile as I was forced to choke back more of my potion. "I'd be a bloody useless boyfriend if I didn't look after you."

"You're bloody useless to begin with," I said with a half-hearted smile. "but thank you."

The next day, my parents came to visit me, dropping off a load of ice lollies and asking if I was feeling any better. Apparently, I told them I was doing ok, but I was half conscious at the time, so I was probably lying, seeing as I couldn't even remember them arriving. My brother came the following evening and several of my friends apparently made it up to see me, Libby giving me a giant balloon saying, 'If you don't get better, Rosie, can I have that blue top of yours?' I did managed to notice that Scorpius stayed by my side every night, which was more than Al and Bea did. Determined not to get sick, Al practically hid in his flat, dragging Bea with him. I kept whining for Scorpius to leave me alone, but when I woke up on the fourth morning, I had to admit I felt a lot better.

"Thank the lord!" Bea cried when, upon coming home from work, it was to see me not a lump under my bed covers, but sat up straight on the sofa, gorging myself on ice lollies and a marathon of old _Doctor Who_ episodes. "She lives!"

"Yes, I feel better, thanks," I said, rolling my eyes. "No thanks to you."

"Blame Al, he didn't want to get sick." Bea said, dropping down at my feet.

"In that case, he shouldn't let Scorpius back into the flat," I told her. "He's been over here so often, he's just going to get sick himself!"

Bea just laughed. "Do you want anything to eat?" she asked me.

"Oh, god no," I cringed at the thought. "The idea of eating still makes me nauseous, but hopefully I'll be able to go back to work in a few days."

"Well, at least you're conscious again," Bea said happily, patting my legs. "I've been wanting to talk to you."

"Hell. Should I be worried?" I asked.

"Piss off, of course not!" Bea insisted, swatting at me. "No, I just wanted to know whether you've talked to Scorpius about moving in together yet?"

Oh, brilliant. She just _had _to bring that up. I didn't want to admit that the idea had been buzzing around in my head ever since she'd mentioned it last month. To be honest, the idea thrilled me, but getting the courage to talk about it was another matter entirely. It had been so long since we'd even so much as brought the topic up!

"Bloody hell, I've only just been brought back from the brink of destruction and you're already trying to get me back into the real world …"

"Oh, don't be so bloody dramatic." Bea scoffed.

"Look, Bea, I don't think you really appreciate the awkwardness that conversation would bring …"

"Oh, come on," Bea scoffed. "I know you two fight all the time, but surely you can handle a five minute conversation?"

"_Five minutes_?"

"Sure," Bea shrugged. "It's easy, you say: _hey, wanna move in together? Sure, let's do it!_ See? That took all but five _seconds_!"

I just looked at her hopelessly. "Bea, I want to do it, honestly," I said. "but it's nerve-wracking even thinking about mentioning it!"

"Well, fine, just keep thinking about it for now until it stops being so bloody scary!" Bea rolled her eyes at me. "In the meantime, we can drown ourselves in time-travel goodness! What episode are we watching?"

"Big finale, Daleks invading the Earth, all the past companions coming together, the Doctor and Rose are about to be reunited once again …!"

* * *

A few days later I was thankfully back to my usual self again. In fact, my first day back at work, Al had dropped by before I headed out the door to hug me enthusiastically and to welcome me back from the dead. And he calls _me _overdramatic!

For the first time in about five years, I was actually excited to go to work! I'd been gone barely a week, but a week was something like ten years in Healer-time. God knows what could have happened while I was away; I mean, hell, Gerald and Ally had actually _spoken_ to each other, in order to come visit me! The gossip train would be barrelling throughout the whole hospital and I'll admit I'm a bit of a sucker for gossip.

Walking into the trainee staff room at the beginning of my shift was a bit of a let-down; no one was in there. However, after I'd worked for a couple of hours and was allowed on my break, I walked in to have about ten people cheer and call out, "Rosie's back, whey-hey!"

"You'd have thought I'd died!" I said, noticing Sarah, Margo and Bethany sat together at the back of the staff room. Ducking around a pile of second-years trying to figure out where their next cycles were in the hospital, it wasn't long before I joined them and was smothered by their hugs.

"Aw, St Mungo's just goes bonkers without you!" Sarah said, her arm around me.

"Really? I thought I'd be the one making it go bonkers!" I said, honestly.

"Well, I thought so as well, all things considered," Margo pointed out, her black curls practically bouncing as Bethany got sick of her wriggling and pushed her off the sofa entirely. "I mean, there was the time you and your boyfriend got into that huge argument out in the reception area and Healer O'Satan kicked you out … oh, and when you totally encouraged us to gawp at Healer O'Hotness …"

"Now _that_ was one fit man." Bethany mused, hands tucked behind her head.

"Oh!" Margo added, grabbing a chair from the table in the middle of the staff room to sit on in front of us. "And then there was the time you cheered on Gerald and Ally when they snogged in the accidents department!"

"Speaking of Gerald and Ally," Sarah commented, grinning. "You might need to sort them out, Rosie."

"Why?" I said, flatly. "What the hell is their problem _now_?"

"Er, well, I couldn't exactly get the whole story, because Ally's a bit shy and wouldn't tell me anything and the only thing Gerald said was, 'she's a bitch', but I think it has something to do with you …"

"Oh, buggering hell …" I muttered, rubbing my eyes. I had only just gotten better! If I carried on at this rate, I was going to end up in hospital! "Are they working today?"

"They were both due for a break half an hour ago," Bethany said, glancing at her watch. "And I've got to go back to work now, damn it!" She got up in a huff, tugging on her Healer's robe as she did so. "I wanted to watch the carnage!"

"I've only got ten minutes left, they'd better turn up soon." Sarah agreed.

"Are you lot seriously _hoping_ that two of our friends will come in here and scream at each other?" I asked.

"_Yes_." all three of them said, bluntly.

I shouldn't have been surprised. I kind of wanted to see it, too.

"I'll let you lot know if I see them around the hospital!" Bethany called out to us, walking backwards as she headed for the door to the staff room. Busy waving, she accidentally backed into Alex, another bloke from our year, and after flirting for a moment, made to leave –

Bethany only ended up with a door slammed into her face. As she yelled and backed away, Sarah, Margo and I all sat up in interest as Gerald stormed into the staff room, a thunderous expression on his face. Sure enough, Ally wasn't far behind, sneaking in before the door could bang shut and Bethany could wrench it open again.

"Why didn't you say anything?!" Ally was yelling, darting off after Gerald. Several trainees were looking up now; I noticed that Bethany was sort of hanging in the doorway, her mouth hanging open slightly.

"It wasn't _my_ fault!" Gerald spun around, rounding on her. Ally was forced to skid to a halt and nearly walked into him.

"You smashed the entire shelf into a million pieces!" Ally cried in exasperation. Then, she seemed to notice all the people watching them and she added in a much lower voice, "Erm … I mean, _why_ didn't you tell the clerk that it was an accident?"

"I didn't have enough money to pay for fifty vitamin potions!" Gerald rolled his eyes.

"You didn't have to run out of the store like that! We'll never be allowed back in now! What if Rose gets sick again because of you?!"

"Woe, ok!" I decided that at the mention of my name, it was my wonderful duty as mate to leap in and defuse. "What the hell is going on?!"

"Rose!" Gerald and Ally both looked genuinely happy to see me, both turning and smiling. While it was nice to know that they could agree on something, I still found it a bit sad that the only thing they appeared to have in common was that they both had me as a friend. _Why _couldn't they get it right?

"Look, before you have the entire hospital taking bets on whether you'll kill each other or not," I began, hastily. "Will you _please_ tell me what's wrong so I can fix it?"

"We went to the pharmacy to get you a vitamin potion, to keep you healthy, but Gerald smashed an entire shelf and he scarpered before he could apologise!" Ally was quick to rattle off, bright red in the face.

"I did not _scarper_–!"

"You left me to explain to the store clerk! _Me_! You _know _I can't speak well to people I've never met before!"

"Look, I can't …" Gerald just trailed off, running a hand through his sandy hair. He appeared agitated, like there was something else he wanted desperately to say, but couldn't bring himself to. Then, before I could kick it out of him, he turned and stormed off for the lockers, immediately rummaging around for his lunch.

"GAH!" Ally cried, immediately hiding her face in my shoulder when she noticed several people trying to smoother their laughter. "Why can't he ever just _say _what he means?! He never talks to me, Rose, I'm sick of it! I'm sick of him!"

I honestly didn't know what to say to her, so I just patted her on the back gently. Exchanging, _holy shit! _looks with Sarah and Margo from over her shoulder. Far from looking sympathetic, they were all falling about laughing.

Over at the door, Bethany finally snapped to attention. "Well," she said. "I'm officially late now and Healer O'Satan will probably have my head, but it was _so_ worth it."

* * *

The argument between Gerald and Ally stayed in my mind the entire trip home. I mean, that's what Scorpius and I were like, wasn't it? When was the last time we ever spoke about something to do with our relationship? About what we wanted someday, what we wanted now …

… oh, dear. It was basically two years ago.

_"Look, Rosie … yes. I want a future with you. I can imagine us getting married, staying together forever and having children. It's a little crazy and a lot insane, but I've seen what being married to a Weasley is like and I _want_ that. _

Did he _still_ want that? God only knew. It was obvious from Gerald and Ally that not talking about it was only going to tear you apart …

Maybe I _should_ mention the whole 'living together' thing?

Buggering hell, what's wrong with me?! I'm trying to do something sensible!

However, when I got in, all thoughts of being sensible flew from my mind. When I slammed the door shut, there came a loud moan from the sofa and confused, I went through to see Scorpius lying across our sofa, taking up the entire space. He looked slightly green and was moaning, "No noise, no noise … ahhhh …"

"Scorpius?" I asked, chucking my bag onto the coffee table and standing over him. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?"

"N-nothing …" he murmured, blinking up at me warily. "I just …"

"Can't move?" I suggested, trying not to laugh as I sat on the floor next to him. "Scorpius, you're sick aren't you?"

"No!" he complained, forcing himself up right; or well, he attempted to, only he gave up half way and just flopped back down onto the sofa again. "I'm perfectly fine!"

"Uh-huh, and when exactly did you start feeling 'perfectly fine'?" I asked, grinning.

"Um … this morning at work …" Scorpius said, sheepishly. "Kind of got a headache and I didn't want lunch … but I'm fine!"

"Yes, totally," I told him. "Look, you just stay here and I'll fetch you something for your head–"

Unhelping with the head problem, which was likely throbbing if my own sickness was anything to go by, Bea chose that moment to come crashing into the lounge like an elephant stampeding. "WE'RE GOING OUT TONIGHT!" she cried.

"Naaaaaargh!" Scorpius groaned.

"What's wrong with _him_?" she asked.

"He's sick." I answered.

"No! I'm perfectly fine!"

I gave Bea the look that said, _yeah, definitely don't believe him_. "Why are we going out tonight?"

"Because–!" Bea looked on the edge of bursting, but that was when Al joined our party.

"Hey, guys!" he called. Then he noticed our positions of Scorpius lying in his bed of pain and Bea bouncing up and down, myself standing across from her. "Erm … what's going on?"

"Scorpius is sick." I pointed out.

"_I'm perfectly fine_!" Scorpius cried.

"Aw, mate, not _this_ again!" Al complained, striding over and nudging his best mate with his foot. "Scorpius, listen to me: _it's ok to admit that you are sick_! The office isn't going to cease functioning without you!"

"I'm not sick!"

"I give up." Al said, throwing his arms in the air in exasperation.

"OI!" Bea yelled. "The reason I came bursting in here?!"

"Oh, right!" I added to Al, "_Apparently_, we're going out tonight."

"Why?"

"I was about to TELL you!" Bea yelled. "I GOT A PROMOTION!"

Of course Al and I both whooped and hugged Bea at the same time. I'm sure Scorpius would have joined, if he could actually get up off the sofa. As it was, he sort of muttered, "Wooooo …" while Al and I cheered. "Bea, that's brilliant!" I cried. "Does that mean no more Monica?!"

"Well, sort of," Bea said, Al and I finally letting go. "Every issue we have this section called 'A date with Sarah-Kate' and Sarah basically talks about life and things she experiences. She gets a whole page to herself! It was totally unfair, because Sarah-Kate has to be about sixty something, at _least_. That's like, a hundred, in journalism years. Monica's been trying to get her to retire for _years, _but she just kept refusing to go! Well, _now_ it's brilliant because she broke her leg when she fell out of her chair in her office!"

When she just looked at us triumphantly, Al was the one to say, "Yeah, erm, you might need to expand on that one …"

Bea sighed. "Her injury was enough to make her see that she isn't cut out for the world of journalism anymore! And who gets to replace her segment?! ME! Next issue it will officially be 'Come with me, listen to Bea'!"

"That's brilliant!" Al told her, kissing her on the cheek.

Naturally there was more excited yelling as Bea once more explained that her promotion deserved a night out on the town. "I mean, I haven't exactly got rid of Monica yet," she said, rolling her eyes. "The bitch is still my boss and I kind of have to write other articles whenever she says so … so all the time. But _her _boss apparently read my article about the survivors of that broom crash, the one up in Yorkshire? So he gave me a segment! Monica was livid! I get a new office _and_ it's on the opposite side of the building to her!"

"You're moving up in the world!" I said, excitedly.

"And Monica doesn't get a say in the matter!" Bea added.

I thankfully didn't have work the next day until the afternoon, so I was all for celebrating Bea's success. However, it seemed that Scorpius was all for it, too.

"I'm coming!"

Bloody hell, I could hear him complaining from my bedroom! "No you're not!"

"Rosie, I'm completely fine!"

I just snorted, goin back to rummaging through my wardrobe. While Al had dashed home to put on something that didn't say, 'I've been sitting in an office for nine hours' and Bea used a mix of phoning and sending owls to call up our friends and see if anyone else wanted to come, I tried to find something decent enough for town. In the back of my wardrobe, I discovered a dress with a huge rip up the side … can't exactly remember that happening, though it might have been the dress I wore when Scorpius was in Russia and I'd sort of gone out on a Scorpius-deprived bender. Tossing that one aside, I noticed a black dress that I'd bought about a year ago, but never wore. I couldn't remember why not; it seemed perfectly fine, if a bit dusty from sitting in my wardrobe for a year. So I pulled it out, cleaning the cobwebs with my wand and put it on.

"Holy …" Scorpius's eyes widened and he actually sat up when he noticed me leave my room, joining him in the lounge. "… god, you're _hot_."

"Really? I've sort of remembered why I never wore this dress," I tugged on the hem, trying to pull it down once more. "It's too bloody short!"

"Trust me," Scorpius said. He coughed for a moment, but soon returned to staring at me. "You look _gorgeous_. No other bloke is going to even get _near_ you, not while I'm around."

"For god's sake, you can practically see my knickers!" I cried, tugging on the hem once more. "And you're not coming!"

"For the last time, I'm _not sick_–"

"Oh, just let him come," Bea laughed, emerging from her room in her own dress. "If he wants to party himself into a coma, I say let him. Might teach him a lesson! And stop mucking about with your dress!" she added to me, tugging my hand way. "If you really want, you can just magically lengthen it, but it's not _that_ short. You want to make Scorpius jealous, right?" she grinned and Scorpius hauled himself to his feet.

"That's it!" he cried. "I'm coming! Just let me – aaaargh!" he broke off in a moan, clutching his head. "I mean … I won't be long …" He gingerly opened the front door and left for his own flat.

"If he dies, I will _not _be crying at his funeral." I said.

* * *

Out in town, the nightlife was thriving! I was surprised to find that a couple of our mates actually came out with us; what with their busy lives, I had guessed that they'd all be too busy. But as soon as Trevor had heard there would be alcohol involved, he'd jumped straight on it, dragging Toby with him (but fortunately not Harley; they'd apparently broken up again. I'd _seriously_ lost count how many times they had broken up and gotten back together). Libby had absolutely refused to get drunk with Bea and I ever since the aforementioned Scorpius-bender night (in which she had thought it would be a brilliant idea to sleep with my cousin – the memory always makes me want to vomit again) but once she heard that Al was coming as well, she had figured that he would be able to keep a leash on her and decided she was coming as well. Apparently, all Bea and I are good at is encouraging stupid ideas.

Of course, Scorpius dragged himself out as well. I'm not entirely sure what he planned on doing the entire time; he hadn't gotten up from our table the entire time we'd been at the nightclub and hadn't even touched his drink. I had enjoyed myself, dancing with Bea and getting myself thrown around by Trevor, but noticing Scorpius with his eyes closed in the corner made me sigh.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Libby said bluntly, dropping down next to him.

"He's sick, but he refuses to admit it." I told her, sitting on his other side.

"Rosie, I'm absolutely–" He started coughing again. "–f-fine! I'm fine!"

"Yeah, you totally sound it." I muttered.

"He does this often, then?" Libby asked.

"Haven't you noticed?" Al's voice said and we turned to see him approaching, Bea in the background as she danced with both Trevor and Toby; any other bloke would be jealous, but we'd all accepted long ago to never take Toby and Trevor's intentions seriously. "Every time he gets even remotely sick, he just keeps ploughing on with his life, pretending he's absolutely fine! He'll only stop once he keels over and can't get back up again."

"C'mon, we should go home–" I began.

"N-no!" Scorpius managed a weak smile. "I'm good! C'mon, Lib, tell us what's been going on in your life!"

"Well, my flatmate, Bunny, actually did something cool for a change," Libby shrugged, still eyeing Scorpius like he was about to throw up all over her. "And yes, Bunny is actually her name …"

As Libby started telling her story, I watched Scorpius with concern. I mean, it was his own bloody fault if he got _really _sick, but I still couldn't help but worry. I decided to leave the whole 'hey, we should so move in together!' thing for now. He'd probably freak out and vomit all over me and that was really not an experience I wanted to have. I would rub his back and feed him pain-killers if I had to, but seeing him retch was definitely not in my version of the 'Supportive Girlfriend Stuff I'm Pretty Much Obligated to Do' book.

He'd stayed by my side and look where he ended up! I warned him, but _no _…

"… and then she _nailed_ it!" Libby cried and Scorpius groaned as Al yelled, "OHHHH!"

"Can't believe she had it in her!" Al added.

"That's disgusting …" Scorpius muttered.

"I know!" Libby said, gleefully. "I reckon this flatmate might just be a keeper! Unless she keeps stealing my food. If the bitch does that again, I'm _so_ going to kick her out."

Scorpius opened his mouth to say something else, but that was when he suddenly coughed violently and the three of us stared as he hacked his guts up all over our table. Eventually, he managed to gasp a few breaths and tried to wave it off.

"Yeah …" Libby said. "You're _completely_ fine."

"I'll take him home," I sighed, standing and grabbing Scorpius's arm. "C'mon, time to go–"

"Aw, Rosie, stop it," he said, thickly. "I'm not sick–" He started coughing again and Al and Libby cringed.

I just tried not to laugh. "Come on, Scorpius." He didn't even resist against me helping him to his feet. I told the others I would see them later and Scorpius waved weakly. On our way out, I called goodbye to Bea, gesturing to Scorpius leaning against me to indicate that I was taking him home. A bit tipsy, Bea waved frantically before grinning like she'd just got a brilliant idea and started gesturing wildly as she pointed to Scorpius's back.

"_Moving in_!" she mouthed at me. "_Ask about moving in_!"

I sent her a look that clearly said, _seriously? You want me to ask _now_?_ Bea just nodded and gestured even more elaborately.

Bloody hell, and I thought it was just Mrs Bowmen and Queen Godzilla that I wanted to murder. As it turns out, I'm trying for the whole family! I really need to learn to control my murderous tendencies towards the Bowmens. Maybe I should invest in therapy?

* * *

Scorpius was sick for about a week, much like I was. Every single day that he couldn't get out of bed without coughing or vomiting was another day I had to enduring listening to him complain and complain about the pile of work waiting for him back in his office. To be fair, his office is basically a tiny cubicle thing about the size of your standard wardrobe, so the paperwork was probably filling the whole thing by now, but I still wasn't letting him go.

"Rosieeeeee …" Scorpius moaned the second I entered his bedroom. "Please, I have work in half an hour! Let me go and I'll love you foreverrrr …"

"All right," I said, leaning against the wall. "I'll let you go if you can sit up without retching."

Scorpius glared at me before trying to sit up. For several moments, he wavered and his face went entirely green. Then, he gave an exasperated groan and flopped back onto his pillow. "I can't."

"Well, then," I said. "No work!"

"You're evil."

"I have been told that before, yes. Besides, it's your own bloody fault you're sick! If you hadn't tried to look after me so much, you'd be fine," I said, moving to sit down on the edge of the bed next to him. Stroking his sweaty hair back, I felt his forehead. "You're still boiling, I'm afraid."

"I swear, I feel fine." Scorpius mumbled.

"I'm sure you do," I rolled my eyes. "But as we have already discovered, you can't even sit up by yourself, so it's fairly obvious that you're _not_ fine."

"You're looking after me," Scorpius moaned. "You could get sick again."

"With the amount of potions you forced me to take? Not bloody likely," I snorted. "Now, speaking of potions, I've got another one for you." I gestured with the steaming mug in my hands.

Scorpius groaned once more, pulling his covers up and hiding his face. "God, no!" he said. "Not that stuff again! It's gross!"

"Now you know how I felt! If you drink it, you'll feel better!"

"You've told me that the entire week!" Scorpius's muffled voice said from under the duvet. "It hasn't worked."

"Just drink the bloody potion, Scorpius!"

"No!"

For Merlin's sake, you'd think I was looking after a bloody five-year-old! I certainly didn't get enough credit for this. As much as I hated to have to force the thing down his throat, I definitely wasn't past doing it. Scorpius knew this from experience, so despite his protests, he still drank it willingly.

It wasn't as if I liked causing him more discomforted. I _hated_ seeing him like this, his stained sheets twisted up around him, his clammy skin and tissues tossed everywhere but in the bin. We stayed together practically every night, but thankfully Scorpius hadn't gone as far as to share a bed with me while I was sick and now, I was definitely following suit. I was getting little sleep because of it. I hadn't realised how used I was to having him snoring next to me, but apparently I was and I missed it terribly.

I could honestly imagine us living together and somehow making it work. It's not like we planned on going anywhere any time soon. As Scorpius choked down his potion and I waved my wand, collecting up all the used issues and throwing them into the bin, I considered Bea's suggestion of seriously talking to him about it. She and Al had been busy this week working and avoiding the Bowmens and their crazy wedding-planning, so she hadn't pushed it as hard as she probably would have but now would be the perfect time, wouldn't it? The cold potion always makes Scorpius tired and he's all hazy from his sickness anyway … he'd probably just agree to anything I said!

Ahem. I mean, I'm _so_ not using the fact that he's sick to get what I want or anything. Totally not.

"That is just disgusting …" Scorpius flopped back down, curling up on his side as he blindly held out the mug for me to take off him. "Oh, now I feel dizzy …"

"Stop being so dramatic," I snorted. "Just sleep and get better, yeah?"

"Mmm … yeah …" After a moment, he rolled back over to face me with a hazy smile, the potion clearly kicking in. "Rosie?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for looking after me," he said. Oh, great. "Seriously … you're _brilliant_. And a Healer, so that's better. But thanks, I love you …"

"You're, erm, welcome," I said, hesitantly. Bloody fantastic, now I feel bad. "I love you, too."

"Yaaaay …" Scorpius muttered vaguely.

Oh, well. Got to seize the moment as they say, no matter how sick his is and how much he loves me. "Hey Scorpius?" I asked after a moment of him coughing. "Did you know that Al and Bea want to move in together?

"Hmm? Oh … yeah." Scorpius coughed.

"Well, thing is … they want to move in here. Into this flat. Alone."

"Yeah," Scorpius muttered. "Dunno what to do."

"Well, Bea had the idea and I was just thinking," I said, hoping the potion had addled his brain enough by now for him not to be thinking clearly. I am so going to hell for this. "What if … well, what if you just swapped flats and we moved in together?"

At that, Scorpius actually opened his eyes. Shit, I wasn't expecting that. Scorpius stared at me for several moments as he opened and closed his mouth like a fish. That's it, he's actually going to dump me this time. Well, screw him, I'd like to see Al take on the position as his personal Healer! Just as I was about to tell him to piss off before he could, he opened his mouth again …

And that was about when he vomited all over me.

Conclusion to being sick: 

-Vomit is gross. But you don't need me to tell you that.

-Naturally, I didn't get an answer out of Scorpius. He didn't even apologise, just moaned some more and requested an ice lolly. That's probably karma for me trying to get a potion-induced 'yes' out of him.

-If Bea keeps trying to bring up this whole 'moving in' thing, _I'm_ going to vomit. Again.

Rose: 14, Scorpius: 13.

(Despite the nausea, Scorpius had absolutely perfect aim. Have to give him some credit).

* * *

A/N: I'm exactly like Scorpius. When I'm sick, I insist that I'm not sick and I try to go about my usual day, making myself even more sick until I can't get up. Then, and only then, will I admit that I'm sick. This is totally just the beginning, people. :)

Another note, I want to say thank you to those people who have continually been reviewing CGIR. Personally, I hate asking for reviews. I will thank and appreciate everyone's efforts, but I feel like if I ask, I'm nagging you all and I basically never do it. But I know that there are people reading this story and I honestly need feedback. It is the only thing that is going to help me progress in my writing and help make CGIR just as good as GIR was.

So please, review and tell me what you think about my story! For those of you who have been reviewing basically every chapter, you are _amazing _and I thank you once more.

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	10. The Christmassy One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, anniversaries or feeling happy.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 9: The Christmassy One.

Naturally, in pure Rose and Scorpius fashion, we ignored _everything_ that was awkward between us. In other words, the whole idea of moving in together was completely dropped and we both pretended that the whole conversation had never happened.

"_He threw up all over you_?" Bea tried desperately not to laugh about a week later, but she failed miserably. "Oh, god, Rosie …"

"I know!" I cried, slamming my tea down on our coffee table. "Then he just kept moaning, pretending he didn't know what I said and now we can't even talk about it …"

"I must say, when you two botch something, you really don't do it halfway."

"You've only just started to notice?!"

We really needed to find a better bitching place than the sofa in our flat. Anyone we were talking about could just come bursting in through the front door, or be listening in and hear everything we were saying! But we had been doing this ever since we moved in, so we could hardly stop now, could we?

"Well, maybe just let that issue die down for now …" Bea suggested.

"Die down? We're not even talking about it!"

"Then that's a good start!" Bea assured me and I almost laughed at that, draining the last of my tea.

"Besides, it's your fault anyway." I said.

"_What_? How is screwing up your relationship MY fault?"

"You were the one who suggested we talk about it in the first place!" I cried. "You know, with your '_ooh, we should swap flats! You'll be totally fine living together_!'."

"Look, Rosie," Bea grabbed my arm, stopping me from getting up and ignoring her explanation to get more tea. "It had to come up sooner or later, right? If not now, then soon. Maybe in a few months, or maybe in few years … but eventually, you were going to have to talk about it."

It was the truth that I really didn't want to have to deal with. "Ugh, I know," I admitted, rubbing my eyes. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I realised I had an hour until my next shift at work. I had been given a whole lot of really long day shifts recently, starting at about nine in the morning and ending at seven or eight in the evening. I would come home exhausted, fall asleep and then get up to do the same thing the next day. I think I've had a constant headache for the past week, ever since the whole 'why don't we move in together, throwing up' incident and Scorpius and I had been bickering basically every second we were alone. "I feel like we haven't spoken in ages, Bea." I whined.

"We haven't." Bea pointed out.

"It's bloody work's fault!" I said. "They're making me work all day so when I get home, I'm too tired to have a life! Scorpius already thinks I'm a freak who loves my work more than him. I'm telling you, I'll be happy once this year's over, no matter what result I get. At least the insane shifts and supervisors breathing down my neck will be gone. Unless it's Healer O'Hotness, then I really wouldn't mind …"

"Ooh, that really fit Healer from potion mixing?" Bea grinned.

"Ah, so you _do_ listen to my work rambles."

"You were basically gossiping," Bea rolled her eyes. "You know I can't resist gossip."

"Guess it's a good thing you're a journalist with _Witch Weekly_ then!" I said, without really thinking about it. Of course I regretted it immediately, once I got the glare. "Oh, bugger," I muttered. "Um, I mean, you're _so_ going to move onto better things! And you're brilliant at writing … Monica Dodge is a bitch who should rot in hell …?" I tagged on the end. Any insult towards Bea's boss was a guaranteed point-scorer.

Bea smiled. "That's better!" she said.

I sighed. "Bea, if you honestly hate working with her so much, why don't you quit?" I asked her. "You've had issues with Dodge ever since you started working there!"

"Because I love writing!" Bea insisted. "I just got a promotion; I haven't had the chance to rub it in her face, yet! Besides, Dodge has been trying to make me quit ever since I arrived! I'm telling you, I'm not going to do it! Either she goes, or … well, she has to go!"

"I seriously doubt that this is the time to be stubborn, Bea–"

"Rosie!" Bea snapped and I accidentally kicked the coffee table as I jumped. "I thought you were on _my side_?"

"I am!" I said, hastily. "Trust me, I've met her before, remember? I also vividly recall a moment where you _punched_ her and I had to help the boys drag you off her. But …" I thought hard, Bea staring into her tea. "There comes a point where you need to step back and think about what you're going through. You've always said that you don't want to work at _Witch Weekly_ forever. You might have an awesome feature all to yourself now and I get that, but every time you have to go to work, you _complain_. Monica Dodge will not 'win' whatever war you two have if you resign."

"I know," Bea said softly, talking to her tea. "It's a pride thing, Rosie. I would love to be a news journalist for the _Prophet_ or a freelancer, but I'm happy where I am for now … except for her. I just don't want to be the first to crack, is all."

I knew that I'd said all I could for now. Bea had to figure this one out for herself.

"… Monica _is_ a bitch, though." I admitted.

Bea burst out laughing and finally met my gaze. "God, I love you, Rosie!" she said.

"Love you, too."

* * *

"Y'know, I'm starting to feel like a kid with divorced parents," I pointed out, having left saying hello to Gerald and now dropping into the seat next to Ally. "I'm constantly running back and forth between you two, pretending that I haven't done anything cooler with the other!"

Ally glanced up at me with a smile, but didn't comment. "How are you?" she asked instead.

I rolled my eyes. About as good as one can be while wearing a Father Christmas hat and had spent the entire morning trying to bring back someone's memory of the last day thanks to an accident with an exploding telescope – courtesy of Uncle George – so they could remember what other Christmas presents they had to buy.

December had rolled around so incredibly fast that I have found myself two weeks until Christmas and still having done no shopping for _anyone_. I somehow find myself in this position every year, yet I still haven't bothered to try and find a better solution. Oh, well. St Mungo's was currently smothered in decorations, including tinsel, mistletoe, baubles, angels, fairy lights with actual fairies and a giant Christmas tree in the corner of the main waiting room. Even the three receptionist ladies were getting into the spirit by greeting every single person with, "Welcome to St Mungo-ho-ho's! Happy Christmas and how can we help make your day merry and bright?"

The Healers were a bit less than thrilled to be forced into Christmas hats and to wish every patient a merry Christmas, particularly us up on short-term memory loss; we were being asked every five minutes what all the decorations were for and I was about two seconds away from snapping and killing someone. Ally was luckily on potion mixing, so not only did she get Healer O'Hotness, but she got to hole herself up in a lab all day and not come out until her shift ended!

"Oh, you know," I rolled my eyes, leaning my elbows on the table in front of me. "Sick of trying to explain what Christmas is to someone who's only going to forget everything in another ten seconds. Trying to think of ways to convince Healer Williams that I can't work Christmas Day without him murdering me. You?"

"It's _fantastic_ in potion mixing!" Ally said, her eyes sparkling. Wow, I don't think I've _ever_ seen that spark, except for catching Ally's stolen glances at Gerald. I mean, potion mixing had to be the dullest cycle in the entire hospital. The only bright side of potion mixing was getting Healer O'Hotness as the supervisor! "I don't have to talk to people, mixing and measuring is so precise and it's been really fun trying to memorise the orders of the ingredients! I've managed to completely memorise about three different potions already, from order, to heat settings, to amount of stirs!"

"Sounds riveting." I said, trying not to laugh.

"I don't understand why none of the others like it!" Ally continued, probably completely missing my sarcasm. "I really think I've found where I want to work in the future, Rosie–"

"Good morning, trainees."

The five other trainees currently on break all leapt a mile as Healer Williams, also known as our cynical boss who hates people because he thinks they will all just turn around and eventually leave you to sleep with your brother (or something), stormed into the staff room. Everyone snapped to attention like they were being caught vandalising or cheating for an up-coming mid-year test. With his wide face, greying hair and glaring eyes, Healer Williams looked like an angry rhino with fairy lights strung around his neck.

Gerald on the other side of the room nearly fell off the sofa. Bethany, who had been busy trying to chat up one of the fourth-years, cut herself off immediately and leapt away from him. A third-year vulture jumped to her feet and I swear Ally just saluted. Healer Williams was Head of the Healer Training Department. He ultimately decided who stayed and who got the boot at the end of this year of training in this coming July. It really didn't bode well for our future careers that he hated everyone.

"Oh, sit down!" Healer Williams snapped and the vulture sat back down with a sheepish expression, playing with the end of her brown ponytail. "I have an announcement to make, which I want you lot to spread around to the other senior trainees. There will be an official statement made in the next scheduled training session next week."

We were all getting kicked out of the course! None of us would have any money, we'd get evicted and probably be forced to become homeless on the street! There's no other possible explanation.

"I have been approached by the Head of Healer Training at Brussels Wizarding Hospital in Belgium," Healer Williams glared at us all. "His trainee-Healers are coming to England sometime in early February for a block course in high-scale emergencies. His team is running it, but he has invited our fifth-year and fourth-year trainees to join them."

Ok, so _maybe_ I need to stop being so dramatic. Ally gave me an excited look whereas Gerald looked appalled at the thought of having to do more work. The differences between those two were shocking. How the hell did they _ever_ manage to fall in love?

"Would this count towards our final assessment, Healer Williams, sir?" the fourth-year asked.

"It would count as extra credit," Healer Williams rolled his eyes. See? So charming. "You would of course have to complete all the requirements for our training course as well. This block course would be like an extra bonus. I strongly recommend that all the men go."

The women in the room, Ally, Bethany and even the third-year vulture, who this news didn't even affect, exchanged confused looks. "Er, sir …" Bethany was the one to ask, thank god, since Healer Williams looked about ready to flip out. "Why do you say 'men'? The women can go too, right?"

"In Belgium, all Healing is carried out by men," Healer Williams explained hurriedly, like he had elsewhere to be. "It is a tradition that has been carried out for generations and as such, will only accept other male trainees on their course with them."

"But that's not fair!" Bethany cried out.

"Spare me, Healer Cowan," Healer Williams spat. "Not my problem. I said spread it around!" And he stormed off without another word.

"What the hell?!" Bethany cried, not even caring if Healer Williams was out of earshot yet. "Why should the blokes be given a boost up in the programme and not the women?!"

"That's just not on!" I agreed. "I get that it's tradition, but why not make an extra course for the women? I have half a mind to go give Healer Williams a good kick! See if he can heal _that_!"

"Oh, I'd give him more than a kick," Bethany muttered. "I'd make sure he could never walk again."

"Remind me never to get on your bad side …" the fourth-year that she'd been flirting with muttered and when Bethany sent him the coldest glare I've ever seen, even Gerald was sent quickly scarpering to the other side of the table, dropping down into the seat on my other side. "I think it's stupid," Gerald told us. "If you guys want, I won't go as a sign of protest? Rosie?"

"Nah, if you can take the opportunity, then do it," I said. "Maybe we'll be able to convince them! I know a few good hexes that might make them more persuadable …"

"Ally?" Gerald asked, hopefully.

Ally just rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said, standing up from the table hastily and causing her chair to scrape loudly across the floor. "It's your life. Since when did you include me in it? I've got to go back to work."

"Oh, c'_mon_!" Gerald yelled after her as Ally ignored him completely, chucking on her green robe and storming out the door very much in reminiscence of Healer Williams. "_Ally_! What the hell am I supposed to do about her, Rosie?" Gerald asked me, desperately.

"Sorry, mate," I said, clapping a hand onto his shoulder. "You caused it, you have to fix it, I'm afraid! I'm just the shoulder to cry on when things go pear-shaped."

"What would I do without you?" Gerald muttered, sarcastically and I just grinned.

* * *

"You _have_ to help me!" I practically screamed at the poor sales girl at the Tesco counter.

"Er, miss, you just pushed over an old lady …" The girl, whose name badge said Danielle, pointed out the crash I'd caused in the lane behind me. I just waved a hand dismissively.

"I'm a doctor, she'll be fine," I said quickly, well aware that I was in a Muggle shop. All of us had cover jobs that we could say to Muggles and we'd had a lot of fun picking them. Some of us, like Bea and I, had jobs that basically crossed over with the Muggle world, so it was easy for us. But others, like Al and Scorpius, spent about half an hour coming up with fantasy jobs. Now, whenever they were asked, Al was an astronaut and Scorpius was a lion tamer. Anyway. "Look, it's Christmas Eve, I need presents and I have no idea what to get! You're a personal shopper, right?"

"I'm just a sales clerk, but I can help you the best I can–"

"Brilliant! Just knew we'd get along, Danni! Can I call you Danni?" I asked.

"Um–"

"Great!" I cut over her and Danielle gave me a look that was faintly alarmed. I'm rather used to that look by now, so it didn't really bother me. "First of all, there's my cousin. Now he loves anything technological, like something that uses electricity. Then my best friend, who is getting married next year, my mum and dad, my little brother, my other cousin, my good friend and my other cousin, and my granddad and grandma, the rest of my cousins and aunties and uncles and good god, I can't forget my boyfriend …"

Danielle just stared at me and I actually waved a hand in front of her face. Shit, I've broken her! Now I'll never get any presents and my family will officially disown me! But then Danielle gave me a hasty grin and gestured with her hand.

"You lost me after you mentioned the friend getting married," Danielle said, bluntly. "But as for the cousin who likes technology, we've got the latest laptops from all your usual brands, along with phones and music playing devices …"

"Ooh! Music! Al likes music!" I cried and Danielle showed me the millions of small, square things that apparently played songs.

It was a long process of buying presents for my insane family and friends. By the time I left the store, Danielle was hugging me good luck and I had pretty much no money left. I should have been kicking myself for managing to leave all this until Christmas Eve, but really I was just congratulating myself, especially on Scorpius's present!. He'd been complaining about a serious lack of it for ages, after all, so he couldn't even be mad at the fact that I ignored the owl he sent me at work earlier this evening and basically ignored him when I sprinted home to change before plunging headfirst into the dangerous waters that was last-minute shopping.

Or, well, so I thought.

"Where the flipping HELL have you been?!" Scorpius yelled the second I got through the door.

"What?" I kicked the door shut with my foot and all my presents spilled out of my arms and onto the floor with a crash. "Scorpius, what the hell?"

"I haven't even seen you _all week_!" Scorpius countered, storming up to help me dump all my shopping on the kitchen table, despite his clear anger at me. "Then, you outright ignored my owl! I was actually worried up until you showed up out of nowhere, threw on _my_ clothes and rushed out again!"

"Wow, you were _worried_," I muttered, spinning to face him. "Come on, you knew I was alive, didn't you? And what the hell are you doing just waiting for me? Don't you have your _own_ flat?"

"God, _sorry_ if I came here in hopes of seeing my girlfriend for the first time in days!" Scorpius cried. "I shouldn't have bothered! Screw this, I need another cup of tea …"

I leaned against the doorframe, watching Scorpius storm around the kitchen, using my teapot and my mug to make himself a cup of tea. He acted like he owned the bloody place! "For Merlin's sake, Scorpius, you don't live here! How many of my tea-bags have you used since you've been here waiting for me?"

Scorpius turned to face me with a scowl, his steaming tea in his hands. "You're arguing about _using tea-bags_? Rosie, we use each other's stuff all the time! Hell, you're wearing my bloody jumper!"

"Well, that's what you get when you leave your crap lying all over my room! You still haven't cleaned that mess up, by the way."

"And _that's_ the reason we don't live together," Scorpius said, not looking at me. "You're insane …"

I didn't answer for a long moment. Scorpius had sat down at the table and had finished his tea by the time I actually figured out something to say. "You really think it'd be a horrible idea?" I said, trying to keep the scowl off my face.

Scorpius shot me a look. "We've discussed this already, Rosie," he said, shortly. "We don't need to have it again."

"We discussed it two years ago!" I cried. "I tried to bring it up again, you just kept pretending you couldn't hear me!"

"I was _sick_, Rosie! I wasn't up to hearing _anything_!"

"Oh, _now_ you admit you were sick!"

Scorpius gave an exasperated groan. "Look, things are just fine the way they are," he insisted. "Aren't they? Why do we have to screw everything up by talking?"

"Don't you _ever_ want to live with me?!" I asked desperately, sitting down at the table next to him. "Look, I'm not saying it even has to happen right now! Al and Bea are still on a high from their engagement bliss, they're not thinking straight, otherwise they never would have brought it up! But I'm talking about the future here, Scorpius … can you _ever_ see us being together like that? Like _them_?"

"Rose …" Scorpius just shook his head.

"Trust me, I don't want to talk about this any more than you do," I insisted. "But when something gets awkward, we just avoid it! You have to admit, it's not exactly good for our mental health."

"I don't think _this_ is good for our mental health!" Scorpius cried. "The screaming and arguing that comes from talking about it!"

"So it's better that we just forget it ever happened, then?"

"Oh, hell, Rosie …" Scorpius dragged a hand over his face. "I can't do it. I can't keep screaming at you. I'll see you later."

"What–? Oi!" I cried as Scorpius hurled himself up from the table and stalked to the front door. "Get back here!"

"No!"

"We need to _discuss_ this!"

"No!"

"_Scorpius_!" I yelled as he stormed out, slamming the door behind him. I rushed after him, yanking the door back open to yell at his retreating back down the corridor. "FINE! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FLAT!"

"I'M ALREADY GONE FROM YOUR FLAT!"

I couldn't think of a better remark to that then, 'Fine!' so instead, I slammed the door shut as hard as I could.

* * *

Rather naturally, I wasn't happy the next day as I stomped into work. Working Christmas Day just seemed like Healer William's way of inflicting evil upon the world, but he was playing his cards well; by scheduling on the fifth-year trainees, rather than any other year, he was ensuring that everyone would actually show up for work, since no one this late in the programme in their right minds would risk skipping a shift just for a public holiday.

"Cheer up, love," Catie, one of the lovely receptionist ladies, said to me as I came down from the fourth floor to drop off about a hundred patient charts and to pick up the new ones. "You get off at five, right?"

"If I'm lucky," I told her. "Surely you're not _enjoying_ working?"

"Dear, when your husband does nothing but snore in front of the fireplace all day and your son goes to his wife's for the holidays, Christmas is pretty much a normal day," Catie laughed. "Oh! Hang on, you've missed a chart …"

I tried not to be Miss Doom and Gloom throughout the rest of my shift, I honestly did. I even smiled at Healer Williams when he let me go home reasonably on time! However, despite my ache to see my family all together, the smile was wiped from my face the second I stepped through the Burrow's front door and my mum greeted me with a hug, saying, "Rosie! Merry Christmas! Oh, is Scorpius not well again?" having clearly noted my lack of Scorpius.

"No, he's fine, Mum," I said shortly, accepting a hot chocolate from her and collapsing onto one of the sofas in the lounge. The fireplace was blazing and the house was of course packed to the brim with my cousins ripping open presents and Uncle George belting out Christmas carols. Teddy and Victoire's 3-year-old son, Max, was climbing over Uncle Charlie, trying to wrestle him to the ground. Mum sat down next to me as I said, "We had another fight. I think he's at his dad's."

"Oh," Mum gave me a sympathetic look as I took a gulp of Grandma's comforting hot chocolate. "I'm sorry, darling. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll sort it out before the night is over!"

"God, I dunno this time …" I muttered.

"Do I even _want_ to know what you did?"

"Hey!" I protested as Mum gave a small laugh at my indignation. "It's not _always_ my fault! I haven't even been able to give him his Christmas present and it's not because I'm hiding it or something! He walked out on me! Refused to talk about something serious like he always does and just stormed out the door without another word!"

Mum was silent for a few moments as she stared at the fire. Then she said, "Rosie, if there's one thing I've learned about relationships," The light from the fire gave her face a warm glow. It made me feel slightly better. "It's that men are stupid."

"Don't have to tell me that."

"How was work?"

"Full of family arguments and tinsel strangulation," I rolled my eyes. "There was a surprising amount of short-term memory loss. The Idiot Twins blow up anything yet?"

"No, but Fred did set the Christmas tree on fire at lunch," Mum snorted. "He _claims_ it was an accident …"

Damn! I had almost made that my bet for this year's Christmas family gathering, but had decided against it at the last minute! Mum seemed to notice my disgruntled expression and clearly thought it was due to my stupid boyfriend.

"Why don't you talk to your cousins?" she suggested. "Lily's back for the day! And I'll bet you haven't seen the other half of them in ages!"

That was true, but what Mum didn't seem to realise was that there was a perfectly good reason for that. They drove me half mad, despite the fact that I loved them all dearly. Besides, there were some cousins that I just didn't talk to as much as others, like little Roxanne or Louis. Then, there were my older cousins who had their own families and didn't need me coming in and spreading my dramas throughout their lives. Al and Bea were talking to Grandma Molly, Al's arm flung casually around my best friend's waist like there wasn't the possibly that my deranged grandmother would flip out and eat Al's fiancée. I had talked to Bea about Scorpius being such an arse, but her advice had been, "Screw him, Rosie, now what did you buy me for Christmas?!" Naturally, she hadn't really been a comfort.

"Mum," I said. "I love my family, I really do, but honestly I just want to sit here and mope, ok?"

Mum supressed a laugh, I just know it. "If you want to talk, you know where I am." she told me before hurrying to the kitchen to prevent my dad from eating all the left-over food from lunch. Just when I thought I could get some peace and quiet to myself, a whirl of red practically jumped on top of me.

"My lovely Rosie! What's up, woman?!" Lily practically sang.

"Slowly dying under your weight!" I cried and Lily snorted, moving to sit on her knees next to me.

I got a good look at her. The girl had such a tan now from travelling in the sun that if it hadn't been for her hair, you wouldn't even think we were related. "You're so brown!"

"Yeah, that last sunburn really did wonders! Mum reckons I'm going to rot my skin or something!"

"Oh, I've missed you!" I said honestly, throwing my arms around Lily.

I hadn't really expected her to come home this Christmas; last I'd heard, she was in Australia where it was about thirty degrees every day and she could go to the beach at ten o'clock at night! Who in their right minds would come back to dreary England if they had _that_ as the other option? But sure enough, Lily had apparently sprung out of the fireplace this morning, her usual bright self and toting a million presents for us. She had gotten me yet another key-ring, the latest being of a tall structure apparently called the Sky Tower.

"Oh, don't be a pansy," Lily rolled her eyes as she pulled back. "Seriously, how are you? Haven't seen you in person since … oh my god, last Christmas?"

"And whose fault is that?" I said to her and she just shrugged. "You need to come home!"

"Not happening," she said at once. Then she smiled. "C'mon then, ramble to me about your life! You had to work today, right? Are all the Healers still trying to kill each other?"

"Work was busy, as you might imagine, and murder is practically on the horizons all the time," I told her. "In fact, the other day one of the vultures actually stole all of Ally's notes and burned them!"

"Seriously? People actually _do_ that?"

"Oh, yeah! Everyone's got their tactics: the vultures sabotage, Bethany sleeps with everyone who affects her pass rate and Gerald, Ally and I just try and stick together and back each other up. Although," I remembered having to run back and forth between them, like a school girl passing messages. "The fact that they refuse to talk to each other is kind of killing our alliance, but it's the thought that counts."

"Are these the two that are in love, but won't do anything about it?" Lily asked.

I nodded, rolling my eyes. "They're bloody impossible; I've pretty much given up. I almost thought I could get them to agree on something when our boss announced these training block-courses that only blokes are allowed to go to because of some Belgian tradition, but no! Gerald just had to stick his foot in his mouth again and I think he's offended Ally so much that she'll never talk to him again!"

"Block course for blokes only?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, we've all been invited to train with some Belgian Healers," I scoffed. "But in Belgium, only blokes are allowed to become Healers. It's like, tradition or something. Absolutely ridiculous, because now all the blokes on our course are given the opportunity for extra credit and the girls are left with nothing! But Gerald said something about respecting other cultures, I don't bloody know …"

"Well, you're still alive so far! I think that counts for something," Lily told me. When I didn't answer, just polished off my now-only-warm chocolate, she poked me in the side and said, "C'mon, what else is wrong? You looked so worn out when you arrived and now you're just sitting here all moody and depressed! Is it Scorpius? Did he hurt you? If you want, I could totally sneak into his room at night and–?"

"As lovely as your offer is, LL," I cut in quickly. "That's quite all right. No, we just had another row, it's no big deal …"

"About what?"

Ah. There it was. Lily always was the only one who never had enough tact to not ask that. I wasn't sure how to answer her, so I ended up going with the truth. "The fact that every time we need to talk about something serious, like our future and shit, he clams up and refuses to say a word."

"Hell," Lily's eyes widened. "Bet that was an ugly one!"

"He got all pissed off at me and stormed out of the flat," I admitted. "He usually comes back sometime overnight, but I woke up this morning and he wasn't there …"

"Oh, hey," Lily seemed to notice my subdued voice. "Don't freak out! This isn't your usual 'forgot to put the rubbish out' row. He's probably realised that you actually do need to start talking about those sorts of things and his manly pride has been hurt at the fact that you were right."

"I've _really _missed you, LL," I said again, giving her a smile. "You always make me feel better."

"I try!"

"So. Enough about my dysfunctional relationship … where in the world are you going to be jetting off to after this?" I asked her. "Last time I got a letter from you, you were playing Quidditch in the outback."

"Oh, that's right!" Lily said. "That was brilliant! Nah, remember how I said that I met up with another travelling group? We had been in New Zealand all but a day before I had to catch the Portkey home! But I managed to get up the Sky Tower in Auckland to get you your key-ring. Auckland is adorable! It's their largest city, but it's _nothing_ compared to London."

"You must have been to every continent on the planet by now!" I pointed out.

"Not _every_ continent," Lily rolled her eyes. "I haven't been to Antarctica, though the boys and I plan on that! And I didn't get to see as much of Asia as I would have liked … but I like New Zealand so far and the blokes I'm travelling with are _brilliant_. Most of them went back to their hometowns for the holidays, but we've all promised to meet up again just before New Year's so they can show me around the country!"

I smiled at my little cousin's enthusiasm, but I couldn't help but feel a sinking sense of disappointment. It's not as if I'd be able to see Lily every day anyway … but every time she talked about jetting off to another country, seeing the sights and never coming home, a little part of me started crying. I loved Lily and despite the hundreds of key-rings she's gotten me, I would give them all up if it meant she would come home to me.

Course I knew that there was a reason Lily had taken off in the first place. It had partly come down to her cheating ex-boyfriend from back at Hogwarts, who she hadn't been able to get over as long as he was around. Getting out of the country had probably been the best thing for her and now, she seemed to love playing the single life out in the world. At one point I might have thought Lily would settle down, get married and all that, but she'd stopped believing in true love a long time ago … now, the idea of her in a proper house with a husband was laughable.

"Oh, go on then," I said when Lily looked ready to burst. "What's your favourite part of New Zealand so far?"

"Oh, hell, where do I start?" Lily said. "First off, the accents are _so_ cute …"

I let Lily ramble for a bit, trying hard not to tune out as she told a story of the first New Zealand pub she'd been taken to. Apparently there had been a huge rugby match on and she'd been caught up in the patrons all screaming and yelling at the P.V. screens, or something.

"… then they scored this last try and everyone went flipping nuts!" Lily cried enthusiastically. "Seriously, there were blokes who had just met throwing their arms around each other and crying and everything! Even Dave hugged me and Matt threw his beer _everywhere_–"

"Uh, Rose?"

I suddenly sat bolt upright and Lily cut herself off entirely when we realised that Scorpius had, for some reason, turned up. He was standing a few feet in front of me, holding a small, gift-wrapped box in his hands and wearing an old Weasley Christmas jumper that Grandma Molly had knitted for him a few years ago. He looked slightly nervous.

"Scorpius?" I said in amazement. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Can I talk to you?" he said, holding out a hand. I exchanged a glance with Lily, who nodded encouragingly. Sighing, I reached up and let Scorpius pull me to my feet, leading me through my crowd of relatives until we reached the back door into the freezing garden.

"What d'you want?" I asked roughly. Once he shut the door, I folded my arms, partly out of defending myself, partly out of cold. "I'm not about to stand here freezing my arse off while listening to you yell at me some more."

"Shut up," Scorpius said. "I'm not here to yell. I'm here to give you this and say I'm sorry." He handed me the box. The tag on it read, '_To: the gorgeous, fantastic Rosie. From: The idiotic prick who excels at being an arsehole_'.

Ok, my heart softened slightly. "I thought you hated me." I said.

"Aw, c'mon," Scorpius shrugged. "I know I was a prick and an arsehole and an idiot to you–"

"Don't forget a knobhead and a dick." I pointed out.

Scorpius snorted. "God, I missed you. Look, I'm sorry, Rosie and I love you. Please accept my gift and my humble apologies. Go on, open it." he added, since I was just staring at the box sceptically.

"You got me a … 'Bad Scorpius Bottle'?" I asked in confusion, pulling out the already-full and ready for action squirt gun bottle that you would typically fill with water to spray the plants, if you were a middle-aged Muggle lady. Only Scorpius had indeed written, 'Bad Scorpius Bottle' on the side in big letters.

"My grandma uses one for her cat," Scorpius said. "Every time he acts badly, she sprays him, so he knows he's done something wrong. Since I never seem to know when I'm pissing you off," He gave a sort of smile. "I thought we could apply the same principle to us."

"You … oh, screw it," I couldn't help it. I grinned back. "I love you, Scorpius."

He gave me a full blown grin before practically leaping forward to kiss me. However, he only got a decent snog for about five seconds, before I pulled away and started spraying him, yelling, "Bad Scorpius! Bad Scorpius!"

"Holy shit–!" Scorpius cried, ducking and trying to run away from me. "What the bloody hell?! What did I do?!"

"_That's_ for storming out on me!" I said with satisfaction. "And _that's_ for every other time you've yelled at me!"

"Ah, no – ROSE!"

Conclusion to Christmas, fighting and work: 

-We might be on speaking terms again, but somehow, Scorpius has still managed to evade the topic of moving in together.

-Christmas is tiring and my present to Scorpius was complete overkill compared to his; I got him what I thought would be a simple decorated box stuffed with biscuits and chocolate, but next to a squirt bottle, it looked like a bloody diamond!

-There's no winning here.

Rose: 14, Scorpius: 14.

(Knew my lead wouldn't last).

* * *

A/N: Ok, so I guess it's a little late for Christmas, but oh well. Bit of obvious foreshadowing, bit of Lily and that wedge between Scorpius and Rose is still there and managing to cause problems.

I'm going to warn you now. The next couple of chapters aren't going to be pretty. I ask that you bear with me and keep in mind that it's all for the story. :)

I hope you're all enjoying it still! Many of you reviewed the last chapter and it was great getting feedback, so I thank you all! Please keep telling me what you think.

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	11. The Rocky One

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Rose, Scorpius, _Much Ado About Nothing_, Hogwarts or rocky situations.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 10: The Rocky One.

"Happy _Twelfth Night_, Rosie!" Bea said happily once I reached the main reception of St Mungo's.

"Hey, happy _Twelfth Night_ to you too," I told her, putting on a grin. "I swear, I'm almost out of here, just got to write up one last patient file."

"All good, see you soon!" Bea called as I hurried down to the staff room. "And wrap up! It's bloody freezing outside!"

I believed her, seeing as Bea looked like she had trekked in about half a tonne of snow in with her. I almost felt like crying at the sight and I had to stop just before I entered the staff room. "What the hell, Rosie?" I muttered to myself, blinking hard. "Pull yourself together! It's bloody snow, not the end of the world!" But the past twelve days had been nothing but a bipolar mess. From Christmas to now, some days I was up on cloud a million and the next, I could be curled up under my duvet refusing to come out. Bea kept pestering me to talk to her and even Al had figured out that something was wrong, but I just couldn't say anything; to talk about it would make it real.

Cause yeah, I knew exactly what was causing this.

"Right, I'm out of here!" I called, ripping off my Healer's robe and throwing it on top of Margo's head. "I'm off to freeze my arse off in Scotland's mountains!"

"Heading to Hogwarts soon, then?" Margo asked, her black curls bouncing as she pulled my robe off her with a grin.

"You better believe it," I said, not faking a smile this time. "The Scamander twins have been harping on about the play for ages, I think they'd murder me if I didn't go! Look after Gerald and Ally while I'm gone?"

"I'll do my best," Margo rolled her eyes. "You're not gone for long, right?"

"Just a few days," I told her. I gestured with my clipboard and Margo turned around, letting me use her back to lean on as I hastily scribbled my notes about my last patient for the day on their chart. "Not long enough for them to really snap and strangle each other, though do owl me if that at all changes."

Margo just laughed and wished me a good time as I threw on a cardigan, jumper and winter coat over my Healer's uniform. Once I'd grabbed my bag, I leaned down to give her shoulders a squeeze in thanks and goodbye. Bea was still waiting for me, chatting to the receptionist ladies as I slammed my last chart down in the tray along the back wall. "Rosie's out! See you, bitches!" I called with a smile.

"Have fun!" Catie told me, giggling with the other two receptionists. Bea gave me a strange look as I linked an arm with her and dragged her after me.

"Are you feeling all right?" she asked as we stepped through the magical glass and out into the heavily snowing London street full of people desperate to get out of the weather. "You suddenly look … cheerful."

"Aw, c'mon Bea, I'm fine," I told her, heading down the street, the two of us huddling together as close as we could for warmth. "Besides, I'm excited! We get to go back to Hogwarts in a few hours!"

Bea eyed me shrewdly, but didn't protest, which I was thankful for. My feelings about heading out to Hogwarts to watch this year's Shakeswotzit play performed for the castle had been decidedly mixed ever since Christmas, but now I had decided that I was going to enjoy this! Ever since we had performed the ever fateful _Twelfth Night_, the headmaster, Professor Finch, had insisted that every fifth-year Muggle Studies class performs their case study play for everyone to see. It had proved rather popular and now, not just the students got to see it; parents, extended family and friends all ended up flocking up to the castle to watch the bunch of fifteen and sixteen year olds make idiots of themselves on stage. For the past couple of years, we hadn't been able to make it up, but I was determined this year!

According to the sons of our close family friends, the Scamander Twins, the students were performing _Much Ado About Nothing_ and the twins were playing brothers, Don Pedro and Don John. I seriously don't get those two. We've been close to the Scamander's for years, since Luna Scamander had been good friends with my parents while at school, but she and her husband spent a long time travelling the world searching for weird animals, so their twin boys were like, six years younger than me and Al. That, and the fact that they were just kind of weird, resulted in the fact that I'd never really spoken to them outside family functions.

Bea was excited to have gotten the next two days off work to come up and see the play this evening, before the rest of our little rag-tag group traipsed back to Libby's place for our annual booze fest/anniversary party. As we struggled through the snow together, she seemed to be muttering under her breath.

"Bea, you all right?" I asked her.

"Oh, no, _I'm_ fine," Bea gave me another one of those looks, the one that says she doesn't believe a word that comes out of my mouth. "Rosie … look, I want to talk. I'm a little worried about you, to be perfectly honest."

"There's nothing to worry about! I'm absolutely fine, Bea–"

"_Rose_," Bea cut over me and that made me return her hard stare; Bea _never_ called me just 'Rose'. "Tell me. _What's wrong_?"

I sighed as we ducked under a shop veranda for a moment, bracing ourselves for the mad dash through open snow until we could get to the cover of the train station. Instead of walking back to our flat, our intention had been to catch the train to the Burrow so everyone in my family could all floo up to Hogsmeade together. In any other circumstances, I would have simply Apparated straight from the hospital to my grandparents' house, but I had wanted the train ride to sooth my thoughts and Bea had agreed to come with me. Now, catching Bea's genuinely worried look made me give up holding everything in; I knew that my best friend really did care about me and despite what she may say otherwise, I also knew that she had to be scared out of her mind about my crazy mood swings lately.

"Look, it's nothing we haven't bitched about before," I admitted as we ran through the snow for the train station stairs. "I mean, what do I _ever_ get all depressed about?"

"What, _Scorpius_?" Bea said, sounding surprised. "I thought you two had sorted things out!"

"Bea, he won't talk to me!" I cried as we finally skidded to a halt undercover of the train station. Letting go of each other, I moved to rinse out my soaking hair, which was going to dry in a poufy mess, I just knew it. Bea almost went for her wand to dry her coat, but remembered at the last minute that we were surrounded by Muggles. "But that's not even the half of it …"

"Then what is?"

"_Everything_," I grumbled. "He's shutting me out completely! We used to be able to at least talk about _some_ stuff, but now it's like our relationship is all for fun and he's just here for the bloody ride! Oh, we can talk about mundane things, our friends, what happened at work, things that don't matter … but I can't even mention your wedding, because that makes him clam up! Forget about moving in together, he just keeps pretending that none of that exists, then gets mad when I try and remind him!"

Bea screwed up her eyebrows as she listened. "He told me that he thinks you've been working too much." she said, quietly.

"Oh, that wouldn't surprise me," I grumbled. "And of course, I have to hear it from you! I _know_ I've been working so much lately, but what did he expect?! That I could just become a full Healer _without_ doing any work? I keep trying to break through to him, get him to say whatever the hell he won't talk about, but all I end up doing is causing more rows and now he thinks it's _my_ fault we keep fighting!"

Bea didn't answer for quite a while, as we bought our tickets and found an empty bench for us to sit on while waiting for the train. I leaned against her as she stared at the train tracks. Then, she said, "Do you still love him?"

"What? Of course I still love him," I scuffed one of my shoes on the ground. "I know that we're rocky at best, but Bea … it's getting to the point where love isn't enough."

"So, _what_, Rosie?" Bea asked me, seriously. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't bloody know!" I cried. "Right now, I just keep trying to get something out of him! Our relationship has always been full of screaming, but not like this! It never used to mean anything, but now he just keeps taking everything to heart, claiming that I no longer trust him or some shit like that and that's not even the most confusing part!"

"What _is_ the confusing part?" Bea asked.

I coughed awkwardly. "Oh, erm … well, it's the … uh, making-up, I guess," I muttered and Bea rolled her eyes. "It's why I keep going all bloody bipolar on everyone! We fight and I want to throw something; we … er, _y'know_ … and I don't have a care in the world!"

"Rosie, even by dysfunctional standards, this is completely bypassing any kind of normalcy," Bea said. "Why …"

"… do I keep going back to him?" I finished her unanswered question. I could tell that Bea didn't want to voice it out loud. Trust me, sister, I don't want to think about it anymore than you do. Bea nodded and I groaned, closing my eyes and hiding my face in her shoulder. "Because he's _Scorpius_," I said in a muffled voice. "No matter how many times I throw something at him or he slams the door in my face, I can't help but fall straight back into his arms when he comes crawling back!"

"Rosie, you can't keep doing this," Bea said, softly. "Carrying on stuck in a relationship where you keep getting hurt …"

"I know." I admitted.

Trust me, I had been thinking about this almost non-stop since before Christmas. I was almost kicking myself for ever bringing up the topic of moving in together, but I knew that if I hadn't, then this fight would have only been delayed for a while. Maybe by a few years, maybe by only a few months, but sooner or later, it was going to come up …

It wasn't as if we'd _never_ talked about where the hell our relationship would end up going. A few years ago, I'd practically forced us to have 'The Future Talk' and we'd both admitted that we were in it for the long-haul. But it seemed like despite that, since we'd left Hogwarts, our relationship had just stayed the same, like it was stuck.

"Rosie," Bea said, quietly as our train pulled up. "This is just my personal opinion, I'm in _no way_ persuading you … but I think you might need to break up with him …"

I turned to face my best friend and said once more, "I know."

* * *

Despite all the insane drama going on that just loves making my life fantastic, I was truly happy to be back at Hogwarts for the evening. Some of the best times of my life had taken place right there in that castle up on the cliffs, after all. I stared up at the castle turrets almost wistfully as we trundled up in the horse-less carriages (though technically, they aren't actually horse-less, Thestrals can only be seen by people who have seen death after all. I have no idea why I can't see them. The amount of times I've nearly killed Scorpius Malfoy must add up to one full death by now, surely?).

Said Scorpius had met up with us in Hogsmeade, pretending that nothing was wrong as per usual. He didn't say anything and I didn't reply as we sat next to each other, riding up to the castle. Al, Bea, Hugo, James and Fred all chatted away excitedly and by the time we were all piling out in front of the oak front doors, my head was starting to pound.

"I can't believe it!" Bea cried, an arm around Al's waist as they stood on the front steps. "It's been _five years_ since we were here! Remember that toboggan race we had back in sixth-year? James cheated by hexing Al's toboggan and he ended up half way across the lake!"

"Hey! I did not cheat!" James protested. "Al hit a rock!"

"I broke my bloody _leg_!" Al countered.

"Eh, details."

"I must say, that _was_ quite a spectacular dive," Fred mused. He turned and scanned the snow-covered lawns. "It was just over there, wasn't it? You _so_ would've gone through the ice if Rosie hadn't reeled you in!" My cousin shot a look at me, as if it were my fault that I hadn't let my best friend drown.

"What?" I told him as the others laughed. "Am I the only one who actually _cares_?"

"Back then, you were," Al told me. "Bea was too busy killing herself laughing!"

"Hey! I helped carry you to the Hospital Wing!"

"Yeah, after you made sure you'd _won the race_."

Scorpius snorted at the lot of them. "C'mon, let's get inside before Al ends up in the lake again," he pointed out, leading everyone up the steps and into the Entrance Hall. Just as I was admiring the fact that the inside castle hadn't changed a bit, Scorpius suddenly spoke quietly to me, "Rosie, I love that you care."

I just stared at him, my insides going haywire. Oh, god, I haven't felt like _that_ since I was at Hogwarts. _Why_, if I loved the fact that I cared, did he not seem to care enough to save our deteriorating relationship? The question burned on the tip of my tongue, but I didn't let it out and once I lost my chance as Scorpius had turned to follow our friend to our seats, I was kicking myself for not asking.

The Entrance Hall was swarming with people, students and families alike. The doors to the Great Hall were thrown wide open and the hundreds of seats were quickly being filled up. The familiar looking conjured stage took up the entire back of the hall and the house tables were shoved to the side like they didn't matter. My mum and dad had gotten there a few carriages before me and they were currently speaking to Professor Longbottom, another family friend and my old Herbology professor. Uncle Harry was shaking hands with Professor Finch himself while Auntie Ginny just tried to herd her sons into the Great Hall.

"This is brilliant!" Scorpius was saying now to the others with a grin, hands in his pockets as he stared up at the Marble Staircase and grand portraits of the Entrance Hall. "Best times of our lives were here …"

"They were." I accidentally agreed and he gave me a surprised look. I knew that we were probably both re-living the same memory; it had been almost this exact spot in the Entrance Hall, roughly six and a bit years ago, where we had argued about me punching his best friend and desperately trying to get the other to be the first to admit how they felt. It was so long ago now and since then, there had been other moments that could be replayed in these castle corridors; a stolen moment behind that tapestry up on the fourth floor, the time in seventh-year where we had snuck out in the middle of the night to snog up on the Astronomy tower under the stars …

"Guys, it's starting!" James cried excitedly, grabbing Scorpius and I by the arms and hauling us into seats.

Professor Hanson was of course the one to take the stage, introducing her class of fifth-years to all the guests in the hall tonight. She straightened her glasses and smiled, still with her brown pigtails, only now with one hand on her heavily pregnant belly. "Welcome everyone!" she called, a Sonorus Charm placed on her so her voice boomed around the hall. "Students, parents, family and friends, welcome to our annual Hogwarts Shakespeare production! For those of you who don't know, this is a tradition that started in 2022, with our performance of _Twelfth Night_. Since then, we have performed numerous plays by the famous Muggle playwright, William Shakespeare, as a part of the Muggle Studies programme. Our students cannot wait to perform for you tonight their personal rendition of _Much Ado About Nothing_! Now before we start," Professor Hanson got that gleam in her eye, the one that made us all scream and duck, right before she shoved a metal fork into a toaster and electrocuted us all. "I must say _thank you_ to the original class of fifth-years who helped me keep my job all those years ago. If it weren't for their enthusiasm and commitment, I wouldn't still be here today. So thank you all – and don't think I can't see the lot of you down the back there!" she called even louder and I glanced around to notice that by coincidence, James had dragged us near other members of that original _Twelfth Night_ group. Even Tom Ellis, who was a famous Quidditch seeker on the British national team now, had shown up, waving at Professor Hanson from one row over.

"It is my pleasure to introduce to you tonight, _Much Ado About Nothing_, by William Shakespeare and performed by fifth-year Muggle Studies, 2029!"

I have to hand it to Professor Hanson; despite the fact that she was about to pop out a kid any day now, she sure knew how to throw together a play worthy of Shakeswotzit. The play itself was a romantic-comedy, telling the story of two lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, who hated each other. Yeah, I know, sounds familiar. At first I didn't get why Bea was shooting me such meaningful looks, as a messenger on stage announced that the men were coming back from war. But then a tall bloke with a fake beard who was playing Leonato, Beatrice's uncle, said his line near the beginning of the play,

"You must not, sir, mistake my niece," he said, throwing an arm around the girl playing Beatrice, a blonde who according to the blokes in the crowd, was called, 'Yeah, Tessie, baby!' "There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick and her: they never meet but there's a skirmish of wit between them."

"Alas!" Tessie cried. "He gets nothing by that! In our last conflict four of his five wits went halting off, and now is the whole man governed with one …"

I glanced sideways at Scorpius next to me. And I thought _Twelfth Night_ related to us; we basically _were_ Benedick and Beatrice. I continued to watch as the men came back from the war, the boys hilariously strutting on stage in slow motion, snapping off sun glasses and the girls all shrieking. Then came the moment Benedick and Beatrice met once again,

"I wonder that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick: nobody marks you." Tessie claimed, twirling around the bloke playing Benedick, a small mousy-haired boy apparently called Nigel. Next to pretty Tessie, he wasn't much of a looker, but soon proved his acting skills.

"What, my dear Lady Disdain!" he said, watching Tessie circle him. "Are you yet living?"

"Is it possible disdain should die while she hath such meet food to feed it as Signior Benedick?" Tessie teased. "Courtesy itself must convert to disdain, if you come in her presence."

"Then is courtesy a turncoat," Nigel said, rolling his eyes at Tessie. "But it is certain I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted: and I would I could find in my heart that I had not a hard heart; for, truly, I love none."

"A dear happiness to women: they would else have been troubled with a pernicious suitor!" Tessie cried and Nigel scowled at her. "I thank God and my cold blood, I am of your humour for that: I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me."

And so on, they exchanged insults back and forth until interrupted. I laughed and I cried with the audience. Lorcan Scamander was playing Don Pedro, a prince who was friends with Benedick and Claudio. On the other hand, Lysander Scamander was playing Don John, the bastard brother of Don Pedro and the main villain. It was rather something to see sweet, albeit weird little Lysander plotting revenge against his brother.

It wasn't until a later scene where I started getting annoyed again. Several of the characters in the play schemed to play matchmaker and somehow get Benedick and Beatrice together. In one scene, when they knew that Nigel as Benedick was listening in, Don Pedro, Claudio and Leonato all claimed loudly together that Beatrice was in love with Benedick.

"Come hither, Leonato," the boy playing Don Pedro called loudly. "What was it you told me of to-day, that your niece BEATRICE was in love with SIGNIOR BENEDICK?"

Nigel yelped from his hiding place behind a flower trellis and the entire audience burst into laughter. The boys continued to talk about how Beatrice would never admit her obviously made up love for Benedick, all while Nigel ran about the stage in different precarious hiding places to listen in. When he was finally alone on stage, his face was simply astonished.

"This can be no trick: the conference was sadly borne," he began his monologue. "They have the truth of this from Hero. They seem to pity the lady: it seems her affections have their full bent. Love me!" Nigel gave a laugh. "Why, it must be requited."

"You've got to be kidding me." I muttered under my breath.

"What?" Scorpius said back.

"Look at him!" I gestured to Nigel up on stage, rambling now about how he would love Beatrice back. "He hears from someone else that Beatrice is in love with him and suddenly, he's all in love with her too? There's no way that would happen in real life!"

"Rosie, it's a play," Scorpius rolled his eyes. "It's not supposed to be realistic, it's supposed to be entertaining! Besides," He shrugged next to me. "If you ask me, Benedick's been in love with Beatrice all along, just refused to admit it. Now that he's heard this, it's given him an excuse to express his feelings."

"Oh, come off it, he _hated_ her!"

"_You_ hated me." Scorpius pointed out.

I couldn't think of a reply to that, so I just huffed in silence. Scorpius stifled a snicker as Tessie came reluctantly onto the stage. "Here comes Beatrice," Nigel fluffed around comically, flattening his shirt and combing his hair frantically. "By this day! She's a fair lady: I do spy some marks of love in her."

I snorted as Nigel struck what I suppose Benedick thought was a 'normal' pose: leaning with one hand against the flower trellis, a forced grin on his face. Tessie as Beatrice did not look happy at having to talk to him and practically ground out, "Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to dinner." She rolled her eyes.

Later the play got even more ridiculous as the women of the play did the same to Beatrice, speaking loudly of Benedick's love for her when they knew she was eavesdropping. Tessie ran about in the background, apparently unable to believe her ears. When it came to the final scene and they were finally being fully confronted with their feelings, Nigel and Tessie really sold it.

"Do you not love me?" Nigel cried across the stage, pretty much every other character surrounding them, looking on in interest with their mouths hanging open.

"Why, no!" Tessie said at once, folding her arms. "No more than reason."

"Why, then your uncle and the prince and Claudio have been deceived; they swore you did."

"Do not you love me?" Tessie asked, glancing back at Nigel.

"Troth, no!" he said at once. "… no more than reason." he added.

Oh, trust me, Nigel, you totally love her. Scorpius and I exchanged glances against our better judgement I'm sure. Only one room away, this had been us six years ago, albeit in slightly more modern terms. On stage, the two battled against their feelings until their meddling friends again caught them out, giving both Benedick and Beatrice a letter written by the other that admitted their feelings.

"A miracle! Here's our own hands against our hearts," Nigel sounded amazed, shoving his letter into his pocket as Tessie threw hers over her shoulder. "Come, I will have thee; but, by this light, I take thee for pity."

I laughed at Tessie's face. Seriously, if these two don't end up being famous actors, I'll definitely have something to say about it. "I would not deny you," Tessie scowled. "but, by this good day, I yield upon great persuasion; and partly to save your life, for I was told you were in a consumption."

"Peace!" Nigel yelled with a grin. He took a step towards Tessie, who didn't move. "I will stop your mouth."

The resulting roar from the crowd was deafening when Nigel kissed Tessie in front of everyone. I had to feel for the two of them. I remembered to this day what it was like to be forced to kiss Scorpius in front of the entire school, let alone family and friends as well. And that was back when I'd only just figured out that I loved him! I was so curious now to know Nigel and Tessie's story; the couple behind Benedick and Beatrice, so to speak. Were they even friends? Or did they never speak outside of Muggle Studies rehearsals? Looking at them now, their arms wrapped around each other and the rest of the cast cheering and applauding them, you would never think that they hardly knew each other. But then there was Scorpius and I; we had been _anything_ but friends, yet would have looked remarkably similar to this (y'know, assuming that our acting skills were on par with this groups', which I seriously doubt).

After the play ended, many families of the cast hung around to chat and friends laughed and teased their mate's acting. Luna Scamander was hugging her boys, ruffling their hair while her husband, Rolf, stood behind her, forbidding Lysander to ever try and get revenge on his brother for whatever reason. My various relations weren't far behind the Scamander's, waiting for their turn to congratulate the twins.

"C'mon, Rosie!" Libby suddenly appeared at my side, throwing an arm around me. "Party at my place, as you know! Bound to be cracking as usual. See you soon?"

"Definitely, Lib." I told her. I let Libby go on ahead, watching Al, Scorpius and Bea getting pushed out of the Great Hall in the tide of students. I was about to follow when someone else approached me; a professor with long hair, glasses and a stomach bigger than her head.

"Rose Weasley!" she said with a smile and I couldn't help but grin back. "It's always a pleasure to see you and your classmates! How did you like our production this year?"

"It was amazing, Professor Hanson!" I told her. "Oh, sorry – are you still Professor Hanson? Or are you called Professor Ackerly now?"

Professor Hanson laughed. She and our Defence Against the Dark Arts professor had started an up and down relationship back while we were still at school, yet they were finally married the summer after our seventh-year. "Officially, my name is Alice Ackerly," she told me. "But it would be far too confusing to have two Professor Ackerly's here, so in the classroom, I'm still Hanson. So tell me everything, Rose! Do you still talk to those crazy friends of yours from back in the day?"

"A few of them, yeah," I told her. "I live with Bea Bowmen, and Libby, Jo, Trevor and Lucy Harley all live in the same building as us. We're all going back now for an anniversary party at Libby's, actually."

"You have wonderful friends, Rose," Professor Hanson said, happily. "What about that bloke of yours? Are you still with Scorpius?"

For a moment, the words stuck in my throat. I panicked for a second at the sheer fact that I almost couldn't say, '_Yes, of course we are_,' But I couldn't kill Professor Hanson's smiling face and besides, I think the woman partially takes a credit in getting us together in the first place. So I forced my stumble aside and joked, "I am, though sometimes I wonder why!"

"Oh, I really do I miss having you in my classes, Rose," Professor Hanson laughed. "I never would have guessed it back then, you know, but I'm glad to hear that you're still together. I also hear that Bea's getting married?"

"To my cousin, yeah," I said, genuinely smiling at that. "They're so excited, but unfortunately Bea's mum and sister are going a bit overboard with the wedding plans. Sometimes, we actually pretend not to be home so we don't have to suffer through it!"

"Trust me, it's not as hard as preparing for a new baby," Professor Hanson rolled her eyes as she placed a hand to her belly. "It's our second one, though it was a bit of a surprise, I'll admit. You'd think Stewart was on the verge of a mental breakdown!" She gestured to my old (and still gorgeous) Defence professor, who was holding the hand of a little girl who was probably his older daughter and mouthing across the noisy hall, '_Are you ok? Are you in labour_?!'

"Well, congratulations, anyway," I told her. "When are you due, sorry?"

"Yesterday," Professor Hanson rolled her eyes. "In fact, I was pretty certain that with my luck, it would come half way during the performance! Thankfully, she's held on. Oh, I'm sorry, I won't keep you here with my baby talk!" She had apparently noticed my friends yelling for me from the Entrance Hall. "Off you go, celebrate! Have fun! And thank you, Rose," she added. "For being my Viola."

"You're welcome," I said. "To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm in a party mood, though. This Viola's having a bit of a tough time at the moment."

"Oh, Rose," Professor Hanson gave me an encouraging smile and squeezed my shoulder. "Hang in there. You have your Duke Orsino, you can get through anything."

For a second I might have believed her.

Conclusion to _Much Ado About Nothing_ and my relationship being practically on the rocks:

-I spoke to Lorcan and Lysander just before I left for Libby's, making the off-hand comment that Nigel and Tessie obviously worked well together. I was left slightly disappointed when Lorcan told me in answer, "Oh, yes, they did, didn't they? It was a surprise, they barely knew each other outside of the play."

-I swear, I'm going to get Scorpius talking to me if it's the last thing I do (which I admit is looking likely at this moment).

-_Much Ado About Nothing_ was hilarious, if not a painful reminder of what Scorpius and I used to be like once upon a time.

What is my life coming to?

Rose: 14, Scorpius: 15.

(Aaaand he's in the lead. Again).

* * *

A/N: Um, yeah, so I said things wouldn't be pretty. It's all for the story, have faith! As you've probably guessed, the next chapter is all about the _Twelfth Night_ party, where things ... erm, get worse.

In 2012, I got to see a live stage performance of _Much Ado About Nothing_ and it was _brilliant_. The entire time, I was reminded of Rose and Scorpius, so it basically had to fit into this story somewhere.  
Also in fitting with the story, I recently got to see a stage performance of _Twelfth Night_. It was absolutely amazing and I couldn't help but imagine my Rose and Scorpius the entire time! And yes, they even kissed as well, although what was funny was that the actresses playing Viola and Olivia appeared to be good friends after the show! Nothing at all like Rose and Harley. :)

Again, sorry for the depressing plot. This was the only way I could imagine Rose and Scorpius dealing with this situation! I hope you all understand.

I also hope you all enjoyed it at least, until next time -

- Moon. :D


	12. The Last One

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Rose, Scorpius, _Twelfth Night _or parties.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 11: The Last One.

Al, Bea, Scorpius and I all turned up at Libby's at the same time, having flooed from the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, to back home. While walking down to Libby's flat on the floor below us, Al and Bea surged on ahead, their linked hands swinging between then and chatting excitedly about a mix of the play they had just seen and speculating on what married life would be like for them. Of course, this left Scorpius and I alone.

I didn't want to admit that I was freaking out. This sort of situation had only resulted in a screaming match the past week and a half! We weren't even holding hands, which felt just … _wrong_.

"Did you like the play?" Scorpius asked me.

"It was brilliant," I answered, much more normally that I thought I was capable of. "Much better than anything we could have done."

"Oh, I dunno, I reckon we were pretty convincing," Scorpius gave me a half-hearted smile. "We were actually in love, after all."

_Were_.

Oh, the awkward.

We'd never been this uncomfortable around each other since Hogwarts! The most awkward I think we'd ever been had to be the time between the Pointless Ball and the _Twelfth Night_ performance, back in fifth-year. Then, I hadn't even been able to meet Scorpius's eye, on the fact that he had told me he loved me, right before snogging the hell out of me right in the middle of the dance floor. I had, of course, promptly slapped him across the face and refused to speak to him until the play, when I most unfortunately figured out my feelings and realised that I couldn't stay away from him. Those 12 days in between had been the most uncomfortable of my life, but I'd been able to bear it, since Scorpius and I clearly didn't hang out outside of Muggle Studies and being Defence Against the Dark Arts partners.

Now, I'd somehow found myself coming in a full circle! Once again, we were at the most weird to be around each other we'd ever been, just after Christmas, to this point now, twelve days later. I _had_ to do something about it, like when I was fifteen. Though this time, I wasn't sure I'd get the same result.

Libby was in the midst of decorating her flat when we arrived, already in costume. I had decided to forgo the moustache this year, but Scorpius was still wearing the laugh-worthy tights, along with Al in his full-jester outfit. Yes, Al hadn't technically been a part of _Twelfth Night_, but our annual party had extended over the years to officially include 'all those who were a part of the Shakespeare experience, along with their significant others and/or friends and randoms who like to have a fun time!' (according to Libby, anyway). Libby's current roommate, the Razor (seriously), was currently lounging on her sofa, throwing peanuts into the air and catching them in his mouth.

"Oh, thank Merlin, you guys are here!" Libby cried, falling out of the air as she dropped her wand, which she had been currently holding between her teeth to levitate herself as she tacked up a banner that read, '_Happy Twelfth Night_!' "Al, can you chuck me my wand? Sorry, RAZOR isn't being very helpful!" She yelled the last point in the direction of her flatmate. The Razor just yawned and flicked his dark fringe over his face.

Pretty soon, people were flooding in and in no time at all, the party was well underway. I had always loved our _Twelfth Night_ parties; not only was it a celebration of all that we had achieved, but it was a chance to catch up with those people from our class who had since moved on from our lives. Some we just never heard from again, but others like Tom Ellis and Geraldine Pewter genuinely made an effort to make it.

Music blasted out of the wireless as forty-odd people crammed themselves into Libby's flat. Normally when it got this big, we would move out to the floor's balcony, which was right at the end of each hallway, overlooking the street. They were big enough to host heaps of people, but Libby's flat was at the opposite end; we may have a lot of explaining to do if the Muggles came out and saw forty young adults dressed in Shakeswotzit costumes, traipsing back and forth between the flat and the balcony. Libby had strung fairy lights everywhere so the lounge had a colourful glow, setting a buzzing atmosphere, despite the freezing snow outside.

However, my mood had somehow been thrown into one of its downward spirals and I didn't think anything would get it back up again tonight; until Trevor arrived, that is.

"ROSIE!" he cried, throwing his arms around me in an enthusiastic hug. I laughed as he spun me around. He did this basically every time I saw him and it never got old. "What's up, bitch?!

"I'm all right," I told him, punching him on the arm once he had let me go. Once again, he had managed to charm his hair the exact same colour as mine, despite the fact that he hadn't seen me in a while. It's scary how he does that. "Been working and working, nothing interesting at all! What about you, you bastard? You never come visit me!"

"Aw, work's also been insane," Trevor moped, tugging me to the side of the crowded room so we could talk. He appeared to have just arrived, along with his older sister Gracie (who I still owed a drink to, but that's another story). "Some bloke up north apparently tried to breed a Puffskein with a baby dragon. Yeah!" He snorted when I couldn't help but crack up in laughter. "The result was surprisingly lethal! The thing would fly around, spewing fire everywhere! Anyway, we had to join up with a squad from the Magical Law Enforcement to arrest him and capture all of the 'Dragskein's as the bloke called them," Trevor rolled his eyes. "The bloke I share an office with and I have been working with them, trying to domesticate them."

"Has that worked?" I asked.

"Well, we did manage to teach one to roll over," Trevor mused. "But then it set the training room on fire, so …"

"Please, if it gets to April and you're still trying to think of something to get me for my birthday, I'm fine with just a book or something." I said at once. I could only imagine the carnage at having a Dragskein flying around the flat, setting fire to everything.

"So how's your work?" Trevor asked me, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. I might have thought he looked a bit antsy, but Trevor has always been a bit mental. "You're in creature-induced injurires now, right? Vultures still trying to kill you?"

"Oh, they've actually been fine over Christmas!" I said. "We've all been so eager to please the bosses recently that none of them have spared a thought to sabotaging the others to make themselves look good. And yeah, we finally started a new cycle! I was getting sick of working with Harley."

"Oh, that's good," Trevor said in an offhand voice. Then, he added in what I suppose he thought was a casual manor, "… so Lucy's doing all right?"

I snorted. "You two broke up again, didn't you?"

"I – no!" Trevor insisted. "We … we're taking a bit of a break …"

"Really?"

"No, fine, she dumped me again! Happy?" Trevor grumbled. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, Trev, you really do need to give that girl a good kick up the arse," I told him. "I don't even _want_ to know how many times you've broken up and gotten back together since Hogwarts."

"I've lost count, to be perfectly honest," Trevor admitted. "I dunno, Rosie, maybe we're just not meant to be …"

"Don't say that!" I said, dismayed. "Especially not today, of all days! You're her Sebastian and she's your Olivia!"

"Look, I'm not saying I don't love her anymore," Trevor tried to placate me, since I was indeed going a bit nuts here. "But I'm not sure I can keep doing this. Look, we always knew that one of our relationships was going to go bust," He rolled his eyes. "A Slytherin and a Ravenclaw? I don't know why I kidded myself into thinking it would work."

"Aw, c'mon, you've been on and off for years!" I protested.

"Rosie, d'you know why Lucy originally went out with me? As in the first time, back in fifth-year?" Trevor asked me. I thought back to that ever fateful day, not long before our _Twelfth Night_ performance in fact, when Trevor had announced that he had a new girlfriend. All of us, myself included, had scoffed at Harley. It was common knowledge back that she still fancied Scorpius and was clearly trying to get back at him. But then they had lasted almost until the end of the year and my thoughts behind why they had gotten together had wavered.

"Wasn't she just trying to spite Scorpius?" I asked.

"Exactly," Trevor said, shrugging. "She was never really interested in me and I knew that … I just figured that she was hot and well, who could possibly say no? Plus I hadn't really had a serious girlfriend since you, so …" He gave me a grin and I felt my neck go red.

"Good god, please don't mention that," I said, unable to meet his eye. "I try to completely forget the fact that I've kissed you before!"

"Hey girl, I don't mind," Trevor laughed. "You're hot, too! But you're totally my little sister now, so while yeah, it's a bit gross to look back on, I'm glad that you were my first girlfriend. Even if you were only using me to get back at Scorpius."

"We haven't had a lot of luck, have we?" I mused out loud, staring out across the crowd. Scorpius was chatting away to one of his old school friends, Danny Parker, who had played Malvolio in the _Twelfth Night_ play. I hadn't really been close to Danny, though I'd gotten to know him a bit during the later years of Hogwarts when Scorpius and I had gotten together. He lived in Denmark now, but had come back for the night to celebrate with us. The two were laughing and joking together and I realised with a pang that I hadn't seen that smile directed at me in ages.

"Pft, Rosie, what're you on about?" Trevor said, bumping my shoulder with his. "You've still got Scorpius!"

"I don't know, Trev …"

I swear, Trevor's face completely fell. It was kind of disconcerting. "What?!" he yelped, grabbing me by the shoulders. "Holy shit, no! You can't break up, I swear I'll cry!"

"We're not breaking up!" I said hastily, swatting Trevor on the chest to get him to let go of me. "At least … I don't _know_. Things have just been very hard recently and what with Al and Bea all in their engagement bliss, I don't really want to snap them out of their high. But I don't know what else to do …"

"You can get through it, I know you can!" Trevor tried to reassure me straight away. "I don't know what's wrong, but I don't care, it doesn't matter! You can get through it!"

"What about you and Harley?" I spun the conversation back on him. "Reckon you two can get through all _your_ problems?"

Trevor just scowled, but he threw an arm around my shoulders, hugging me close to him. "Shit, Rosie …" he said. "Our lives suck, don't they?"

* * *

I spent most of the night catching up with old friends and throwing out the crazy dance moves. I mean, I can dance properly if I really wanted to, but really it was much more fun to pretend your trousers are running away from you and waving your hands in the air.

Libby was belting out songs from the wireless, her arm around Tom Ellis, who was rather well known for being an incredibly crap singer. At some point during the night, Libby had had a camera, but it had since been high-jacked by the Razor, who was currently trying to take pictures of up girls' skirts. Bea actually kicked him in the face, which caused about half the room to cheer and Libby to break off her singing to scream that the Razor was _so_ fired as her roommate.

Lucy Harley had turned up to the party sometime around midnight, apparently having been working. The vulture was thankfully nowhere near me at the hospital, but I felt her glare wherever I went. I expected her to head straight to Trevor, who was currently laughing with Toby, Jo and Jo's boyfriend who had apparently just told an incredibly hilarious story. Knowing Harley, she was probably going to try and beg for him back again and I scoffed when I saw her stalk through the crowd of people, the only attempt to be in costume being the black dress she had thrown on (never mind the fact that it was so short by Elizabethan standards that she would have given Shakespeare himself a heart attack). However, to my surprise, Harley went straight over to Scorpius, who had been talking to Al and a few of the other boys from Hogwarts.

She muttered into his ear over the music and he excused himself from the group. Scorpius and Harley moved through the flat to a less crowded space near the kitchen. Ok, so clearly I'm supposed to follow, right? If not, well, I think I have every right to be the crazy stalker girlfriend! I've accepted the fact that they're best friends but they _are_ also ex's.

So like the slightly deranged girl that I am, I snuck through the crowd after them, ducking under flailing arms and dancing through the small hallway. I managed to get into the kitchen without them seeing me by hiding behind a big burly bloke who, despite his strong Russian accent, told everyone he was Jo's cousin in order to get into the party. Hiding behind the kitchen door, I was in prime position to overhear everything the two were saying on the other side.

I think I _may_ just need psychiatric help.

"… here?" Harley was saying. Through the crack between the door and the wall, I caught a glimpse of her worried face.

"Somewhere," Scorpius answered, hands in his pockets and face impassive. "I don't know. I don't really care, to be honest."

"You can't say that," Harley said. "Are you honestly giving up? Because if you are, I'm afraid I'm going to have to slap you!"

"Look, I …" Scorpius seemed at a loss for words, dragging a hand through his hair; a habit that I'd accidentally picked up off him for when he was stressed. "I'm stuck, Lu! I don't know what else to do!"

"Try _talking_ to her, you bloody idiot!" Harley cried. "You know I'm not exactly a fan of Weasley, but even _she_ deserves that!"

Me. Of course they were talking about me. But on the amazing miracle side of all this, Harley actually seemed to be sticking up for me! That's something I never thought I'd live to see!

"It's hard, Lucy–"

"Of course it's bloody hard!" Harley snapped at him. "But it all comes down to how much you love her! Are you willing to stick it out and get through this, or do you not love her enough to keep going?"

"_Lucy_–"

"You once told me you'd marry her," Harley said harshly and I nearly gave away my position by accidentally bumping into the door. Luckily, they both dismissed the noise. "Are you telling me that you were just full of shit back then?"

"No, I'm saying things have changed!" Scorpius said back. "I used to only be able to see the bad stuff about her, the stuff that made me hate her guts and want to throw her out a window. Then eventually, I sort of got to see the good stuff about her too and up until now, the good has outweighed the bad. But it's just gone back and I can't remember why I fell in love with her in the first place!"

"Look," Harley gave a sighed. "I know this is difficult. But I can't help you here. You have to figure this out on your own. I'll be there for you if things go completely pear-shaped, but you have to do something about it and you have to do it _now_. You just have to answer one question," I glanced through the crack and found myself mirroring the anxious look on Scorpius's face, like he didn't want to hear it. "_Do you love her enough to stay_?"

She left that hanging for a moment in which I tried to calm my beating heart and Scorpius gaped at her. Then she gave a satisfied sort of sound and turned to join the rest of the party. Unfortunately, someone in the lounge had started up a long conga line, which had cut across Harley's path. Being pushed back, she accidentally slammed into the kitchen door, not only squashing me, but smashing my nose and causing me to scream,

"OUCH, SHIT! Holy bloody HELL!"

The door was flung back and I saw Scorpius and Harley staring at me behind the door. I clutched at my now throbbing nose and tried to frantically come up with something that could get me out of this.

"… oh! Is this the kitchen?" I found myself saying. "What d'you know? Clearly there's no bathroom behind the kitchen door, whoops! Sorry, I'll be off now, toodle pip!"

What the hell is _wrong_ with me?

* * *

"Rose!" Scorpius yelled after me, but I tore through the crowd, around the conga line and leaping straight over Libby's sofa.

"Hey, Rosie–!" someone called, but I didn't wait to see who it was. I dashed into Libby's thankfully empty bathroom and slammed the door. There was no way I could talk myself out of this, was there? I mean seriously, _is this the kitchen_? James would be so ashamed of me for coming up with such a pathetic excuse! Maybe I really should have taken up those _How to Lie 101_ lessons he once offered me. I mean, I thought it was a bit un-moral at the time, but now I'm seriously regretting it!

"Rosie! Open the bloody door, would you?!"

Yep, _regretting it_.

Since the bathroom window was most unfortunately too small for me to escape through and I didn't have my wand to engorge it, I moved away from the door and let Scorpius come barrelling through, almost tumbling into the bathroom. Someone out in the corridor asked, "Hey, um, you going to be long–?" but Scorpius had already slammed the door in his face.

"What the hell is _wrong_ with you?!" he yelled at me.

"Don't worry, I've been asking myself that." I said, folding my arms.

Scorpius gave an exasperated groan. "Seriously, Rose? Hiding behind a door just to overhear what I was saying?"

"Well, how else am I supposed to hear?!" I cried. "You don't say anything to my face!"

"And you wonder why!" Scorpius gave a humourless laugh. "I'm surprised you even came tonight! I thought you'd be sleeping at your precious hospital! Do you not even realise what you're _d__oing_?"

"The hell?! What _I'm_ doing?! You're the one–"

"No, YOU'RE the one, Rose!" Scorpius yelled over me, hands gripping his hair. "You spend all your time at bloody work! It's all you ever do! I get that you're trying to make it as a full Healer and it's hard, but you come home and you don't even say hello! You moan a bit, fall into bed and expect me to bring you a cup of tea in the morning! Remember Christmas Eve?"

"What about Christmas Eve?!" I yelled, disbelieving that I was hearing this.

"You completely acted like I didn't exist!" Scorpius roared. "I was supposed to walk you home that shift, remember? Or were you so busy studying that you forgot?" I didn't answer him. I remembered receiving an owl from him, but I'd discarded it in my hurry to buy presents. "Yeah, that's what I thought," he said, darkly. "I sent an owl to remind you, but you ignore that. I turn up at the hospital only to be told that you'd already left! I get home to find you throwing on my clothes and running out the bloody door! Did you not even stop and think about how I might have _felt_?!"

"I was buying your Christmas present!" I said, hotly. "I figured you'd understand!"

"I might have done, if it hadn't been the fifth year in a row that you'd done it!" Scorpius snapped back. "You just don't _think_ half the time, Rose! I know you're a Ravenclaw and that your brain works differently to mine, but I always thought that the people you cared about would _stay_ in that head of yours! Not fly out completely when things aren't going according to plan!"

"Don't you _dare_ say that," I practically snarled at him. He shot me a look, but I was beyond caring now. "The people I care about _always_ come first in my life. How _dare_ you think otherwise? Do you actually think that little of me?"

Whoever was out in the corridor had apparently been joined by others now, since I heard Toby's voice call, "Oi! We need to pee out here!" Scorpius and I both completely ignored him.

"Oh, come _on_–" Scorpius was saying.

"No!" I cried. "I'm not going to 'come on' and cave to your little tantrum! My job is important to me, you _know_ that–"

"Trust me, I know how bloody _important_ it is." he said, scathingly.

I nearly snapped and strangled him on the spot, but I thankfully restrained myself. "–but I'm _not_ going to just stop working because my boyfriend is getting pissed off that he can't see me all the time!" I carried on like he hadn't spoken. "I mean, a simple way to solve it would be to live together, but you won't even talk about that, will you?"

"The hell? You're bringing this up _now_?"

"Yes! Because it's making me rip my bloody hair out!" I yelled. "Seriously, I know we've never exactly been the poster couple for 'normal' relationships, but this is just getting bloody ridiculous! We never talk about _anything_ remotely serious!"

"That's not true," Scorpius pointed an accusing finger at me. "We've talked about the future and stuff!"

"And how long ago was that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. When he had to stop and think, he proved my point. "See? You can't even remember! Who's to say nothing's changed? I mean hell, back then, we were talking about marriage and kids, but now you won't even _consider_ the idea of moving two doors down from where you're currently living! For god's sake, our relationship is _exactly_ the same to how it was six bloody years ago!"

"I'm not listening to this." Scorpius snapped, striding for the door. Unfortunately for him, I had been waiting for this point, since this had been where all our previous fights had ended, when he walked out and slammed the door in my face. Well, not this time, mate! He only just managed to open the door by an inch, revealing several desperate faces in the corridor outside, but I surged forward and slammed it shut again. Toby yelled, "OI!" but I turned to face Scorpius.

"No," I hissed. "You are _not_ walking out on me again. You're going to stay here and you're going to _talk_ to me!"

"Gee, and you wonder why some people find you intimidating." Scorpius muttered. However, another glare from me made him give up, angrily stalking away from the door. I made sure the door was locked once more before leaning against it.

"So come on," I said. "Why do you shut yourself off whenever I try to bring up the topic?"

"Look, just leave it, Rose."

"No!" I said. "I'm sick of '_just leaving it_'," My impression of his voice was probably horrendously bad and at another point in time, we might have simply laughed at it. Now … "Does the thought of living with me honestly scare you _that much_?"

"Yes!" Scorpius suddenly blurted out and my eyes widened. I never _actually_ thought he was scared. "Look, Rose, the idea of living together thrills me and also _terrifies_ me! We could never get away from each other! We constantly fight and at least when we have our own flats, we can separate, get a chance to cool off! We couldn't do that if we lived together and I never wanted us to become … well, _this_!" He gestured vaguely with a hand between us. Outside, several people banged on the door, Toby yelling, "We're busting, guys, c'mon!"

"Well, too late for that, mate."

"Yeah, and whose fault is that?"

"It's not _mine_!" I cried and Scorpius just gave an exasperated scoff. "The hell, Scorpius? You're the one who's been shutting me out, never speaking to me, pretending that nothing's wrong and suffering through every day because he's too scared to do a bloody thing about it!"

"At least I _care_ about our relationship!"

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Scorpius just rolled his eyes, like he _hadn't_just completely insulted me. "You don't make any effort at all, I'm the one who has to fit into your life around your crazy work schedule and you don't do anything to try and make it better! You're slowly driving me _insane_, Rose Weasley!" he yelled. "I thought that the fighting was normal for us, but we were wrong, this will _never_ be normal! Not with you carrying on like this!"

"Me?!" I shrieked. "You need to pull your bloody head out of your arse–"

"Damn charmer, aren't you?"

"God, I really _hate_ you, Scorpius!" I yelled, gripping my own hair. When I realised what I was doing, however, I quickly pulled back. Scorpius knew exactly where I had gotten that habit from. "You're just an arrogant bastard and you always will be!"

"ROSE!"

"WELL, YOU ARE!"

"_Mate, c'mon, we're slowly dying out here_!" Toby called from the corridor.

"SHUT UP!" Scorpius and I both screamed at the door at the same time. That made the angry banging die down for the moment. In the brief silence, I felt my head ringing from all the yelling.

"Look, I can't freaking do this anymore," I snarled. "This is over, I'm leaving."

"What?" Scorpius had said, but I was already wrenching open the door and storming through the huge crowd that had gathered outside it. "FINALLY!" Toby yelled and he shoved several others out of the way, practically throwing Scorpius out to slam the door shut. I didn't even wait to see if he was following me or not, I just kept blindly walking until I reached Libby's front door and stormed out into the hallway. I left the pounding music behind as I practically ran all the way to my flat, throwing myself against the door once I had slammed it shut, closing my eyes and resting my head against the wood.

Had that actually just happened? My head was starting to hurt, making it hard to think. I considered my words and I knew that they could have been taken several ways. _I'm leaving_. I wasn't even completely sure I knew which way I wanted them to be taken.

Deep down, I admitted that this had to happen. The screaming was doing my head in and I just couldn't keep going on like that. But it took everything I had to stop the prickling behind my eyes.

"ROSE!"

There came a sudden thump against the door and lots of loud banging. "ROSIE! ROSE, OPEN THE BLOODY DOOR!"

"No!" I yelled back through the wood.

"You can't be serious!" Scorpius yelled. "It's _over_? Did you honestly just break up with me?"

"Yes!" I cried. And I knew it this time. "Consider yourself officially dumped, because I'm not doing it anymore!"

"I–" Scorpius's voice seemed to falter for a second. Then, it was back with a vengeance. "FINE! I was going to dump you anyway!"

"Brilliant! Now you don't have to! Now PISS OFF!"

For a while, there was no sound and I realised that he must have actually left. Holy crap … I'm single. For the first time since I was sixteen, I'm _single_. And it just hit me that I was never going to be close to Scorpius again. Still leaning against the door, my chest ached at the thought of never kissing him again … never sharing the same bed, or cuddling on the sofa watching one of Al's ridiculous Muggle films, or feeling his skin against mine …

"Oh, shit, _Scorpius_ …" I muttered and I didn't even realise I'd said his name out loud until I heard his muffled voice from the other side of the door answer,

"Rose?"

Against my better judgement I'm sure, I opened the door to find him still standing there, a look of utter desperation on his face. It hurt so much to see him like that, but I wouldn't take back what I said. It was like he'd just had the same realisations as me and didn't know what to do about it. I stared at him for a second before coughing awkwardly.

"But, well …" I continued from my last statement. "… any chance we could break up in, like, thirty minutes?"

Scorpius's eyes said nothing but hunger. "Make it an hour." he said. Then, he kicked the door shut behind him as he rushed inside. He grabbed me around the waist and kissed me fiercely.

Conclusion to our last night: 

-We were nothing short of desperate. Desperate to be with each other one last time, desperate to feel each other …

Ahem. Anyway. Our last hour together had basically consisted of frantic hands ripping off clothing, throwing him back onto the sofa after making sure the front door was locked, because like hell was I waiting until we could get to my room, and kissing desperately, wrapped together like it was actually possible that we could never let go.

-Later, after we'd eventually made it to my bedroom, I had muttered, "I love you," into his hair. I'm not sure if he heard.

-Him leaving was one of the hardest things I'd ever had to watch. After the painstaking task of actually finding where we'd thrown his clothes, he hadn't said a word as he walked out the door.

-I didn't start crying until I had thrown on my oldest pair of pyjamas and had a bottle of wine in my hand.

Rose: 14, Scorpius: 16.

(I might have done the breaking up, but I still lost).

* * *

A/N: I ... geez. I don't even know what to say to this. I'll admit it, I was completely afraid to post this chapter.

I know you must all hate this. _I _hate this. But to be honest, Rose and Scorpius were always going to break up at some point. They've only ever seriously been with each other and it's in my opinion that in order to be sure that they truly love each other, they have to try being apart, even if it's not exactly willingly. Look on the positive side ... there is now lots of potential for hot jealousy!

Have faith. I hope you understand.

Also, if I do not answer any reviews straight away, it will (probably) not be because I'm scared of what you all have to say, it'll be because I'm moving cities tomorrow and won't have internet at my new flat for a few days.

No matter what happens, I hope you all liked it. I'll appreciate anything you have to say.

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	13. The Fine One

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Rose, Scorpius, _Deathly Hallows _or _Witch Weekly_.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 12: The Fine One

I wasn't entirely sure how much time passed between Scorpius walking out that door and Bea walking in, but half of my bottle of wine was gone, that much I knew. I heard a knock at the door and I practically leapt over the coffee table to get to it (or, well, I most likely did a drunken stagger-skip-hop over the table, but you get the analogy).

I must've been quite a sight. I opened the door with the half-empty bottle in one hand and the other hastily wiping away tears, despite the fact that I was still sobbing my guts out.

"… holy _shit_." Bea said.

"I know!" I cried.

"Right," my best friend shut the door behind her and stormed straight into our flat. She took one look at the sofa, with the blanket that was normally carefully placed over the back now ripped down, one of the cushions flipped and my bra hanging off the side, and shook her head. She took the slightly safer option of plonking herself down in the middle of the floor. She gestured for me to join her. "Start from the beginning, Rosie. Tell me everything."

Bea always did have a natural talent for getting anyone to spill any story; I guess it comes with being a journalist. But I still would have told her anyway. I ended up curling in her lap, talking between shuddering breaths about what had happened not even two hours ago. She unfortunately took the wine off me, but listened to every word I said, her hand gently rubbing my back and encouraging me to continue when my words faltered.

"… anyway, to cut a long, depressing story short, I broke up with him," I cried, flopping out of my best friend's arms and onto the floor, throwing a forearm over my eyes to try and block the tears. Despite the raging snow outside, I was only wearing a pair of shorts that barely reached my middle thighs and a raggedy old t-shirt, I'd been using as a pyjama shirt forever; it was once Scorpius's, but I tried not to think about that. "I stormed up here, but he came running after me of course."

Bea raised an eyebrow at that. "From the looks of things in here, you did a bit more than running …" she said, sceptically.

I flushed red, but didn't look up from under my arm. "I couldn't leave him without … oh, god …" I rolled onto my side, squeezing my eyes shut tight, as if I could force the memories out of my head. Nope. They're still burned into my brain. "Sorry for being blunt, it would have been the best sex I'd ever had, if it weren't for the fact that it was the _last_ sex I'll ever have with him."

Thankfully, Bea didn't make any scathing remark about that. It was one of the reasons I loved her so much; we could talk about anything. I still remembered the first time Scorpius and I had ever slept together; the next day, I simply hadn't been able to contain it and had blurted it out to Bea over breakfast. Even she couldn't contain her curiosity and we'd ended up having a lengthy discussion about Scorpius's male assets over our cereal. My life is just bloody deranged.

"Hell, Rosie," Bea said. "I knew you were prone to screwing things up, but I never thought you could screw things up _this_ badly!"

"Way to kick me while I'm down."

"I'm just saying," Bea told me, nudging me with her foot. "… are you ok with this?"

"Do I look ok?!" I snapped. Then I felt bad and peaked out from under my arm to give her an apologetic look. "Sorry. I just … no, I'm not even remotely ok. But it had to be done."

"… so you think you made the right decision, then?" Bea asked me eventually. "I don't mean about sleeping with him, I mean about the whole thing. Was breaking up the right thing to do?"

Without thinking, I wanted to scream, '_No! The hell?! This is horrible, I'm running straight over to his flat now and begging him to take me back!_' But once I actually got my brain to think about it, I remembered all the things we had said, had yelled about and that we'd admitted were tearing us apart.

"Yes," I said, my head starting to pound from the wine. "I hate it, I wish I didn't have to do it, but yes."

"Well, then," Bea grabbed my wine and took a gulp herself. "There's nothing else left to do but sit here and cry together, is there?"

"You're missing the party downstairs," I said, reluctantly sitting up to stare at her. "Al's probably wondering where the hell you are. You don't have to stay up here with me."

"Are you kidding?!" she said, looking at me like I was nuts. "My best friend just broke up with her boyfriend of six years! Like hell I'm just going to leave you alone! C'mon, let's watch some classic sci-fi; you get the ice cream while I just go throw on my pyjamas!"

I might not be completely coherent right now, but even I could tell that I seriously owed Bea Bowmen. I knew there was a reason I became friends with her all those years ago; she was simply the best. It wasn't until later, after she had dragged her duvet and pillows out onto the floor for us to curl up in while watching the Doctor and his companion race around the universe in a phone box, that she remembered a question she had apparently forgotten to ask before.

"Rosie?" I glanced up and she hesitated. "Sorry, I just have to ask … do you still love him?"

My tears from before still stained my face, so I tried not to add any more to them when I answered, "Yeah. He might still love me, too, but it's like Harley's question: do you love her enough to stay? Obviously, his answer was no."

* * *

I managed to avoid Scorpius an entire week, which I think had to be some sort of record, considering that he was a) best friends with my cousin and b) _lived_ with my cousin. But I had long since memorised his work hours, which were thankfully regular and not like my crazy mess of a work schedule, so I made sure to only go over when he was out.

"Rosie, this is getting ridiculous …" Al said faintly, answering the door for me at six thirty in the morning.

"He's not here, is he?" I asked, quickly darting into the flat and glancing around hesitantly. "Sorry, I've got work in half an hour, this was the only time I could come over!"

"Look, as much as I love you," Al said, his black hair in disarray and his t-shirt on back to front. "Please come back and visit me tonight when I'm conscious …"

"But Scorpius finishes work at five!" I said, shooting him a look. "I don't get off until seven!"

"You have to face him sooner or later."

"Yeah, I'm going to go with _never_," I said stubbornly, folding my arms. "Look, I just came by to say I'm going away for a bit at the end of the month and I need you to remind Bea that she is not to forget our poor plants and just move in with you while I'm gone."

"_What_ plants?" Al practically scoffed through his laughter. "You mean those decrepit things that sit on your kitchen window sill? I think they died years ago!"

I chose to ignore that. "I just want to make sure that I won't get back and find our flat covered in an inch-thick layer of dust!"

"Look, if you're so desperate for a housekeeper," Al said. "I could get Scorpius to–?"

"No!" I yelped immediately. "N-no, he would have to sleep on the sofa or something and … no. Just remind her, would you? She would completely ignore me."

"Fine, fine," Al rolled his eyes. "Where're you going anyway? Bea mentioned something about you taking off, but couldn't remember the name of where you were going."

"New Zealand!" I said, happily. "I've got those few weeks off work, so I'm going to visit LL in her natural habitat! Or, y'know, whatever. It's summer there and she's paying for me to go, so I'm not complaining."

"She never told me about this!" Al complained. "How come _you_ get to go see her, yet I'm left here in freezing England? She's _my_ sister!"

I just gave him a smile. "Do _you_ get two weeks off work?"

"Um, no, but–"

"Then no New Zealand for you!" I told him, smugly.

Al just grumbled at me as I heard an alarm clock go off somewhere. "Whatever. Bring me back a kiwi bird, would you? Oh," He glanced back in the direction of his bedroom. "Whoops. Forgot to turn that off, Bea's going to _kill_ me, today was her one sleep-in–"

Sure enough, a loud and grumpy voice yelled, "AAAAAAL!" and my cousin winced.

"Ah, it's good for you to get up early I'm sure," I laughed. "She'll be fine."

"Are _you_ fine?" Al gave me a shrewd look. Oh, great, here it comes. "You're acting … happy."

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Oh, I dunno, maybe because you broke up with your long-term boyfriend all but a _week_ ago?" he said. "Rosie, he might be my best mate and flatmate, but you're my cousin and we've been together _forever_. I know what you're like …"

"I swear, Al, I'm _fine_," I insisted, trying to flatten the worry lines in his face. The poor boy cared about me a lot and I loved him for it, but sometimes I get the feeling that loving Rose Weasley is a tiring job. "Don't worry about–"

"Al, mate? Seriously, did you have to leave the alarm clock on–?"

"SHIT!" I practically ran head-first through the front door. I didn't even get a glimpse of Scorpius as he emerged from his bedroom, but I wasn't going to take any chances. By the time Al was answering him, I had already slammed the door shut behind me.

"Yeah, love you, too!" Al was yelling sarcastically at the closed door. Then, as I leaned against it thinking that was close, I heard Scorpius say in a normal tone, muffled through the door,

"Was that Rose?"

"She screamed at me and slammed the door in my face," Al answered him. "Of course it was bloody Rose."

* * *

_Dear the fabulous, beautiful Rosie, _

_You WHAT?! You DUMPED HIM?! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL HAPPENED?! _

_Few. Ok, there are the first hard questions out. Now, I must ask are you freaking NUTS? Hell, Rosie, I never thought this would ever happen! You and Scorpius have been together for like, ever! And that's an exaggeration, but that's what it feels like. _

_I understand your reasons, though. The pulling away, the avoiding and never talking … but I must say, I can see where he's coming from as well. Not that I agree with him, of course I'm on your side, what kind of cousin would I be if I wasn't? But you do spend a lot of time working and what with the whole Christmas Eve Fiasco you told me about, well, you completely blew him off. He had no idea that you were off buying his Christmas present, so of course he was going to get mad. You two always do. _

_Good god, Rosie … I'm half-wishing that I didn't miss the play now! Were the twins good? I heard from Mum it was brilliant! But no matter what, I'm so glad I didn't leave! I'm currently in Queenstown, way down the south of New Zealand and we've been bunjy jumping and jet-boating all over the place! The boys have been showing me around like I said, they're all simply brilliant! We decided to start our tour here in the south, since we were all way too sunburnt to handle the weather further north, where it's warmer. So we're going to slowly work our way up! After this, we want to inquire about an Antarctica trip, just to finish off visiting all the continents. Then … who knows? The boys have already been to London, but they want a native's point of view, as they put it, so if you're lucky, I might come back for a bit in the summer to show them round! _

_Sorry to hear that you can't come and visit me, knew it would be a long-shot anyway. Can't persuade you with cruise ship through beautiful Fiordland? Maybe I'll better be able to convince you once we get to warmer weather; it's not as hot as Aussie, but still bloody warmer than London in winter! _

_So glad to hear Al and Bea have finalised their date for their wedding! Maybe if I'm able to make our England-tour overlap with the wedding in July, I'll be able to stay longer as well as see my big brother get married! It only took them a few months to convince 'Queen Godzilla' as you call her, I'd say that's a record! _

_Just remember that I'm always here for you if you need to talk. Just say the word and I'll head to the nearest fireplace that's connected to the Floo network! That's the only down side of travelling with Muggles; there's a huge part of my life that I can't tell them about, especially when we get talking about school and growing up. I've basically just told them that I went to boarding school, but it doesn't sound nearly as cool when you take out the magic part. Luke and Dave almost found out the other day, I swear, since they accidentally found my wand in my bag! I told them that it was just a replica wand and that I was a big fan of Wizards of Waverly Place (a kids TV show from the 2000s. Yeah, I just got so much cooler). _

_I'm afraid I've got to go, we're heading out for Christchurch tomorrow and it'll be several hours on the bus. __I love you so much, Rosie, and just tell me if you want me to beat up Scorpius for you (actually, I have to ask, even though you've broken up, do you still love him?). _

_Take care, _

_Your LL. x_

* * *

"Dad?" I called once I had tumbled out onto the carpet of my childhood home. The lounge was currently empty, but the lights were all on and a mug on the coffee table was still steaming, so at least one of my parents couldn't be far away.

I'm not sure why I felt the need to visit my dad. Scorpius and I were already broken up, so it wasn't as if Dad could just knock some sense into me and make me go back to him like he usually did. I'd been going to my dad after a fight with Scorpius for a few years now, but I'd never come with a nightmare like this. I collapsed onto the sofa, hoping that he would be home soon. I needed to talk to someone who wasn't Al or Bea, both of whom kept thinking I was about to cry any second and also kept trying to make me a cup of tea every five minutes.

Honestly, I was _fine_, and they were treating me like special china!

I called out dad's name once more, but again, didn't get an answer. Sighing, I resolved to wait a few minutes, glancing around my old lounge. I smiled when I saw the corner of the rug still bleached white. When we were little, Hugo had accidentally spilt a bottle of mum's special ink on the rug and had come crying to his big sister to bail him out. Being six years old at the time, I apparently already had a strong conscience, since I tried to help him get the stain out. Unfortunately, I tried bleaching it and it hadn't exactly worked out too well. We had both gotten in trouble, though I had been commended for helping my brother.

I had good memories here. I needed some good memories at the moment.

I sat up to sneakily take a gulp of the resting coffee, but I was distracted by a copy of _Witch Weekly_, which was open to a page with a picture of a very familiar-looking girl. Bea's photo smiled back at me, waving next to her monthly feature, 'Come with me, listen to Bea!' I just laughed; Mum always insisted that she didn't read those trashy magazines, but I knew that she secretly had a bit of a thing for them.

I almost put the magazine down, but that was when I noticed the title of that issue's feature, only having been released a few days ago.

Eyes narrowing, I started to read Bea's feature:

_FEUDING FRIENDS_

_Everyone knows what it's like: to have two wonderful friends, who are both loyal and selfless. You love hanging out with them both …_

_… except they hate each other's guts._

_Don't worry, I've been there. Actually, I've been there for eleven years!_

_Everyone's got them: the two friends who both love you, but can't stand each other. My feuding friends first met on an ever-fateful first train ride to Hogwarts castle, back in 2017. They didn't get along then and they certainly don't get along now. He thinks she's bossy, thinks she knows everything and obsesses over her work. She thinks he's cocky, full-of-himself and an arsehole. Am I allowed to say arsehole? Ah well, it was her word, not mine! These might simply seem like the thoughts of two little eleven year olds and indeed they were … except they are both now twenty two and counting. You would think that they were still eleven! As most of you know, I live in a flat two doors down from my fiancé's and what's awkward is that one of the feuding friends lives with him … and the other lives with me._

_They can never get away from each other and the screaming is doing my head in!_

_So the age old question is this: how on earth are you supposed to remain friends with them both?! If you even so much as talk to the other, they insist that you're taking sides! Sometimes, it's like being a kid with divorced parents; you are constantly bouncing back and forth, pretending that you haven't seen the other when it's obvious you have, pretending that you haven't done anything cool!_

_Since I have been dealing with my feuding friends for eleven years, I am proud to say that I have at least managed to handle them without getting my throat ripped out. For an example, I will tell you of a recent incident between these feuding friends …_

_They day they broke up._

_Are you surprised that they used to go out? Don't worry. We were all surprised! To this day, I'm still not entirely sure what they broke up over, but I can tell you it devastated them both. Not that they would ever admit that, least of all to each other. We were all at a party with several of our other friends and in my case, having a wonderful time. It was around eleven at night when I bumped into a mate of mine, __who was complaining that earlier in the evening, he'd had to wait outside the bathroom for what seemed like an age, because who people had shut themselves inside to scream at each other. _

_"Scream?" I had asked, interested. _

_"It was insane!" my mate had answered. "Honestly, we tried to make it obvious that we had to go, but they just yelled at us to shut up! Three guesses as to who they were …?" _

_I had sighed. It hadn't been hard to guess that the __screamers in the bathroom had indeed been my feuding friends. _

_They had apparently both stormed out of the bathroom and had disappeared from the party a while ago.__ Well-rehearsed in the idea of the two screaming, I decided to be a good mate and go check on them. I knew that my friends had been having a lot of problems lately and that they were finding it hard to keep loving each other. _

_To be honest, I was a bit scared to knock on the door. Sure enough, w__hen she answered, she was crying and had a bottle of wine in her hands._

_What the hell do you say? There's nothing you can say. All you can really do is be there for them. She told me the entire story and I felt so useless because she was hurting and I couldn't stop it. These two have been feuding for years, so I knew that if they were going to break up, it would be for a legitimate reason. While I was desperate to drag them back together and make them talk, I knew it wouldn't do any good; I'd just drive that wedge in further, spreading them even more apart._

_I spent the entire remainder of the party with her, trying to make her feel better. The next day, I got to see the other side of the story … and it was worse._

_Have you ever seen a bloke cry? It's unnerving._

_So feuding friends … in a way, you really can't handle them, no matter what you try and do. There's always going to be a fight, they're always going to want you to pick a side and eventually, you're going to have to choose one over the other. That night of the party, I chose her. But the trick is being able to change your mind about who you choose. The next morning, I chose him instead. And I've been swapping and changing ever since._

_Is it tiring? You have no idea._

_But in the end, no matter who your feuding friends are, you love them both. And while you may have to suffer a metaphorical divorce and constantly choose, you have to do it. Because who knows? Maybe one day they will stop feuding._

_All you can do is hope._

_Written by Beatrice Bowmen_.

It was only after I had read the last line several times before I realised I was crying.

My first instinct was to be mad at Bea: how could she even _think_ to write about me in a national magazine?! Ok, granted, she never mentioned names, so unless you personally knew her, there was no way to know who it was … but still! I wondered if Scorpius had seen it.

Ouch. Ok, too soon for those kinds of thoughts.

Still, Bea's words made me consider what this must have been like for those watching. I'd been so caught up in my own misery (even though I'm _so_ fine) that I hadn't bothered to think about anyone else. It couldn't have been easy for Bea _or_ Al to have to pick a side. Hell, I didn't _want_ them to pick sides! Had I just been completely too self-absorbed as I wallowed in self-pity?

I didn't want to answer that.

"Rose?"

I glanced up at the sudden voice and I was slightly disappointed to see my mother entering the lounge from the hallway. With her frizzy hair tied up and rubber gloves on her hands, I guessed that she had been cleaning. "Hi, Mum." I said, reluctantly, dropping the magazine back onto the coffee table.

"Rose! What's _wrong_?" Mum dashed forward, ripping her rubber gloves off as she did so. She dropped down next to me and I realised too late that I hadn't wiped away my tears.

"Oh – look, Mum, it's nothing!" I tried to insist, but she took my chin in her hand, making me look up at her.

"It is _not_," she said, firmly. "Now, what's going on? I haven't heard from you since we all went up to Hogwarts to watch the Shakespeare play!"

"I was just hoping to talk to Dad." I shrugged.

Mum sighed, letting go of my chin. She was probably expecting that as my answer. "Your dad's not here," she told me, shortly. "He's away for work, staking out houses, catching bad people. The usual."

"Ah." I wasn't sure what to do now, to be honest. I'd always felt so much closer to my dad and my mum knew it. I didn't know why! Talking with Dad was easy for me, but every time I tried to speak to Mum, it was _horrific_. She often tried to break whatever barrier there was by initiating a heart-to-heart, but I had never been able to stand it and always ended up running away. The thing was, I was so much more like my dad in personality than I was with my mum. I guess I related more to him.

I always felt bad about it, but it couldn't be helped, right?

"Rosie, I wish you'd speak to me," Mum said softly, and I inwardly groaned. Not _another_ attempt at an emotional moment! "Something is clearly upsetting you! You can talk to me!"

"It's nothing!" I said, quickly. "Seriously, Mum, I'm absolutely fine! Work is good and Lily's paying me to go visit her at the end of the month–"

"_Don't _change the subject!" Mum cut in. "We can talk about real life later! Right now, I want to know what's made you cry on my sofa!"

"I'm fine–"

"You know, in the past I _might_ have accepted that," Mum turned with a defiant look and I almost cringed. When I was little, I used to be _scared_ of that look. "As for _now_, I certainly wont! Now you tell me what is wrong!"

"What happened to the mum who 'didn't understand' me?" I asked.

Mum just smiled down at me. "She decided she wanted to finally get to know her daughter. Now tell me."

I just gave an exasperated sigh. "Oh, fine!" I cried. "I broke up with Scorpius, _all right_?"

Mum's eyes just about fell out of her head. "_What_?!" she yelped.

"Yeah, that's what everyone else said."

"You … you _broke up_?" She looked like someone had just told her Dumbledore was still alive. "Rosie, you can't be _serious_?"

I just shrugged. "I am," I said, trying to avoid her gaze. Seeing her shock would just make it hurt more. Not that, y'know, it was hurting or anything. "and I just wanted to talk to Dad about it, ok?"

"Well, you're going to talk to me!" Mum cried. "Oh, my baby! Are you ok? Oh, stupid question, Hermione, _of course_ she's not ok – erm – ah –" She looked flustered, twisting her hands together on her lap and looking like she didn't really know what to do. "To be honest, I've never really had to do this before …"

"Do what?"

"Comfort a child after their heart gets broken," Mum admitted. "I mean, that first boyfriend of yours you didn't really seem all that cut up about and Ron handled it when Hugo broke up with Amy, so …"

I just scoffed. "Oh, come on, Mum!" I said. "I swear, I'm totally fine!"

"And how many times have you said that?"

I just glared. "It's true! My heart isn't _broken_–"

Mum rolled her eyes at me. "All right, look at me, Rose," she said. When I didn't, she added. "_Look at me_!" I glanced up, trying not to glare. "That's better. Now, let's face it: me and you don't have a lot in common. But this much we _do_, ok?"

"… Mum, are you saying you've had your heart broken before?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and totally not believing her.

Mum just gave me a knowing smirk. Oh, gee, where have I seen _that_ before? "Believe it or not, Rose, but your mum didn't just care about books and grades when she was younger!"

"Oh, god, this isn't going to be one of your 'stories' is it?"

"It was 1997!" Mum began and I sighed dramatically, flinging myself into the back of the sofa, preparing myself for the long-haul. "Your father, Uncle Harry and I were camping across the British countryside, on the run from Voldemort and with a Horcrux eating away at our souls! I know you know _this_ part of the story," Mum added. "But there was always a part we didn't tell you. We didn't … I didn't want you to think badly of your father, if you heard it …"

"Dad?" I sat up, suddenly. "What do you mean, _think badly_?"

Mum just smiled sadly. As far as I was aware, the story went they travelled around together, destroying Horcruxes until they were captured by Snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor to await Voldemort. Trust me, I'd taken to hearing _that _part of the story very well. I could totally see the Malfoy's sitting safely in their house, taking whatever orders they were given. I mean, I knew that they were cleared of any bad choices they may have made and I also knew that Scorpius didn't have anything do to with it … but it had still been easy to accept.

What the hell could my father had done?

"It was an overcast night," Mum continued her story in a painfully enthusiastic voice. "Late in the year. Ron was wearing the Horcrux and it made his mind dark. We heard some news on the radio, which made Harry and I excited and hopeful. It made your dad worry. He …" Mum hesitated, watching me listen with avid attention like I'd never done before. "He and Harry got into a fight. They … they said some awful things to each other. Ron accused Harry of not caring about his family. Of trusting him when he shouldn't have, thinking Harry had a plan when he didn't. Harry got upset. Eventually, he threw back the Horcrux and took off."

I just stared. My brain couldn't even think of anything else to say, so I gestured for Mum to carry on. She did, her face grim and her voice soft as she remembered. "Rosie, I know what it's like to get your heart broken … because the moment your father ran out of that tent, he broke mine. I ran after him, even when it started raining, but he had Disapparated. I never thought that he would ever actually _leave_, but he did, Rose. It hurt more than I realised."

"Did …" I coughed to clear my croaky voice. "Did Dad ever come _back_?"

"Oh, of course," Mum said and I let out a sigh I didn't realise I'd been holding. "But we had to go through so much without him and back then, I didn't think I could ever forgive him for what he did. I never thought my heart would heal. I know you and Hugo always pull faces and whine whenever we so much as mention liking each other, but I want you to know that I was about as young as you were when I fell in love with your dad. I know what it's like to feel that much emotion for one person, only to have them turn around and hurt you. Rose," Mum held a hand to my chin once more, but this time she was much softer as she made me look at her. "I don't care who broke up with who. I _know _how much this must hurt."

I really willed myself not to cry, honestly. But something about my mum's voice just brought it out of me and I burst into tears against my will. "I'm fine, I'm fine …" I kept sobbing, even as Mum wrapped her arms around me and I knew I was completely lying. I could understand why Mum had never told that story before. Even now, having known and loved my father for twenty two years, I couldn't help but think _how _could he have just _abandoned _Mum like that? They were two teenagers in love who needed each other in the middle of a war!

Mine and Scorpius's problems seemed like nothing in comparison.

"Don't worry, Rosie," Mum muttered, stroking my hair. "Eventually, I forgave your dad and one day, you'll forgive Scorpius. Or he'll forgive you. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"It's a rather long story," I murmured, rubbing my eyes on my mum's sleeve. "and I want to know more about you and Dad. How long were you mad at him for?"

"Well, I reckon it was only a few weeks, but if you ask Uncle Harry, he'll say it was forever …"

Conclusion to me being _totally fine_ about breaking up with Scorpius: 

-I am totally _not _fine, but at least I know that now.

-Mum ended up telling me the entire 'Ron and Hermione love story', all the way until they got married. While some parts were gross, it did give me a little bit of hope.

-I spoke to Bea about the article she wrote when I got home. I think at first she thought I was going to get mad for her writing about me, but was rather surprised when I hugged her instead and apologised for making her be in the middle.

-I've managed to avoid Scorpius for over a week now! If it were under any other circumstances, I'd be impressed!

Rose: 14, Scorpius: 17.

(I ended up talking to my mum. _Mum_!).

* * *

A/N: I would like to thank **elfwarden **for inspiring me to write the moment between Hermione and Rose. This one's for you!

I was honestly scared to read the reviews for the last chapter, but you guys just blew me away. Thank you so much for your understanding! You can all be assured that Rose and Scorpius will (somehow) figure things out before the end of the story.

In another note, I have recently moved cities to start my university course once more (I'm a training teacher) so I'm afraid I have to start getting back into study mode, in amongst unpacking. If a chapter does not come out when it's supposed to, have faith that it is probably because I'm busy smashing my head into a wall. :)  
(Also, if there's any glaringly obvious mistakes in this chapter, it's because I still don't have internet in my new flat yet and I've had to update this chapter in between my classes).

Thank you again for all the support!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	14. The Blokey One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, Hugo, blokes or ridiculous plans.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 12: The Blokey One.

"… Rosie?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't you think this is getting just a _bit_ ridiculous?" Libby asked me, leaning back in her fluffy chair with her hot chocolate. Snow raged outside, but inside Café Julio, it was beautiful, toasty and warm, unlike the barren wasteland that was my _heart_.

I've _really_ got to stop being so theatrical.

"_What_?" I scoffed at my friend, sitting opposite her with the coffee that Libby had practically forced into my hands. "No, what's so ridiculous?"

"Rosie," Libby said, flatly. "You're coming to _me_ for comforting. _Me_! I SUCK at relationships!"

"Then you should be perfect at this!" I insisted. When Libby just glared at me, I hastened to add, "Not – not that I think you're perfect at having to mourn the loss of perfectly good relationships because you've had to do it so often … or well … I just mean that–"

"Yep, just keep digging that hole." But Libby was smiling at me. She soon sighed over her hot chocolate and I inwardly groaned, bracing myself for yet another load of, _how're you doing, Rosie? Anything I can do?_ Honestly, all I did was break up with my boyfriend of six years! You'd have thought my parents had bloody died!

"Look, I'm sorry, Lib," I said, truthfully. "but I'm bitter and I don't want to bring Al and Bea down! You were the only other person I could think of!"

"Wait, bring them _down_?" Libby raised an eyebrow. "Rosie, the other day, I went over to say hello and it was to find Bea screaming at Queen Godzilla something about pancakes. I don't even know how bloody pancakes are meant to come into a wedding! Al told me he hides in his office at work now until Bea can owl him to say it's safe to come home! Trust me, I don't think your problems are going to make much of a difference at this point."

"Oh, _god_!" I moaned, hiding my face in the arm of the chair I sat in. "I'm a horrible friend _and_ I'm going to die alone!"

"You're not going to _die alone_," Libby rolled her eyes. "Look, Scorpius is a bastard, right?"

"Right …"

"And he's been a bastard since you met, right?"

"Right!"

"Well," Libby just shrugged. "In that case, somewhere along the lines, that bastard fell in love with you! And a bastard who can fall in love can't be _that_ bad, can he?"

I found myself grinning. Libby just had the natural ability to brighten anyone's day and soon, I was laughing for the first time in over a week. "Ah, Merlin …" I giggled. "Why can't I seem to get anything right?"

"Hmm," Libby pondered. "Do you want the best mate answer, or the philosophical answer?"

"Best mate."

"Ok, philosophical it is!" Libby said, cheerfully and I rolled my eyes. Honestly, I was surprised she didn't pull out a pipe and fake beard, especially since I know for a fact that she owns both. "Rosie, it is of my conclusion that getting everything right is not an easy road …"

"Are you serious?"

"There are twists and turns!" Libby ploughed on, leaning forward with wide arms for what I'm sure she thought was a dramatic effect. "Sometimes, you fall off the broom! But you must remember that I, along with your other friends, will always be there to catch you."

"Did you seriously just compare my life to a broom ride?" When Libby nodded, I just got up and moved around the coffee table, sitting on the arm of Libby's chair so I could hug her tightly to my side. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"So what _was_ the best mate answer?"

"Oh," Libby just shrugged. "It's '_bitch, what're you on about?! You're the hottest girl in the city and Scorpius is such a dick for forgetting that! You're better off without him!_' … see?" Libby grinned up at me. "Feel better?"

I considered. "I feel a bit more womanly-girl-power, but as for my relationship ending … not so much."

"Rosie, I _swear_ it'll get better." Libby insisted and I moved back around the coffee table to collapse back into my chair. In fact, if I play my cards right, I may never have to leave this chair again! Food can be delivered, I can people-watch for entertainment and whenever I need to go to the loo, I can just …

Er, never mind. Chair life isn't for me.

"_When_, Libby?" I moaned. "When I'm old and on my death bed?!"

"Look, remember when I went out with that Nick bloke last year?" Libby asked me. "It took me forever to get over him!"

"Wait, the biker who wanted to get his face tattooed on your arse? How could I forget _Nicko_?" The memory of Libby sending me a frantic owl at four in the morning to come rescue her wasn't one I was likely to overlook any time soon.

"Well, ok, perhaps he wasn't the best example," Libby said, hastily. "Rob! What about Rob?"

"The bloke you cried over for about two weeks?" I asked. "Didn't you ask Bea and I to help egg his house?"

"Exactly!" Libby seemed to be adamant that we stop the trip down 'Libby Fletcher's List of Crazy Ex-Boyfriends' lane. "When a relationship ends, it's hard to get over it, no matter how it happened–"

"Actually," I said. "If you consider Trevor, I was never exactly _under _him, so it seriously didn't take me long to get _over_–"

"Rosie, shut it! You're ruining my examples!" Libby cut in. "You and Scorpius were together for _six years_ and everyone around you two knew how much you loved each other! Those feelings aren't going to go away overnight, if at all!"

"_If at all_?" I gave Libby a hard look. "What the hell does _that _mean?!"

"Er, well," Libby gave a hasty grin. "Just … I _may _have a slight bet going with Trev about when you and Scorpius are going to get back together … but just so you know, I totally bet that you wouldn't!"

"You think we're _not _going to get back together?!" I cried. Seriously, I thought I was the only one with a gambling problem! As it turns out, we should have all just joined a Gamblers Anonymous group!

"Uh …" Libby winced. "I mean … Rosie, do you _want _to get back together with Scorpius?"

I just gave a frustrated groan. "Yes, of course I do!" I cried. "but I don't! I mean–!" I am _extremely_ messed up. "Look, it would be so easy for me to run back to him right now, but I know that I can't do that. If I do … we'll just go right back to where we were; unhappy. So I've got to at least _try _and pretend I don't love him anymore. It hurts less."

"Hell, Rosie," Libby gave me a half-hearted grin. "If it helps, _I _love you?"

"Thanks, Lib. I love you, too," I told her. Finishing our coffee and hot chocolate for the next few moments, my mind was practically forced to consider Libby's words. Was I _ever_ really going to stop screwing things up so badly? Ever since we'd broken up, I'd spent practically every moment trying to force myself not to think of Scorpius, which of course never worked. I'm just not good at being single! For the past six years, I've shared my life with someone else and I got used to it! Being alone is so depressing!

"You know what?" I said, sounding a lot more confident. Libby just smiled and shrugged. "It would be way easier if I was a bloke!"

Libby blinked. "… er, ok, you _have _to explain that one." she said.

"A bloke!" I cried. "Seriously? You've never considered it? Bloke's have it so easy! They never have to wear a shirt, they don't have to cross their legs when they sit, they don't have to handle hard feelings, they just pretend they don't exist! Everything's simple for men! In fact, I'll bet Scorpius is somewhere, being completely ok with us breaking up! Whereas me? Every day, all I feel like doing is curling up in a blanket and crying while watching the sad episodes of _Doctor Who_!"

"Rosie," Libby told me. "If you want, the next time I see Scorpius, I swear I will make him cry for you. Will that make you feel better?"

Of course, I was so emotional I felt like crying again. "Libby!" I tried not to sob. "That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me!"

"Hey," Libby grinned. "If you're going to become a bloke, you got to stop with the whole sweet 'I love you' thing! Uncomplicated, emotionless blokes don't _do _that."

"I'm sorry, you're right," I said at once. "I mean …" I put on the lowest, manliest voice I could and said, "_Hey, mate, ready to go out and get trolleyed? I can't believe the Falcons are eighth on the table! That last game was a complete piss-take! Whoa_!" I gestured to the closest girl in the café. "_Hot bird at twelve o'clock_, _check out the arse on that girl_!"

Libby simply applauded me. "Bravo, Rosie!" she cried. "I swear, if you really were a bloke, I'd totally shag you."

"Thanks. I'd shag you, too."

Now _that _was friendship.

* * *

_Dear beautiful LL, _

_I know you honestly mean well, but I'm seriously so sick of people asking what the hell is wrong with me. Yes, I broke up with Scorpius. No, I don't want to talk about it. Let's leave it at that. I've already had my brain wrung out by my friends about how this was partly my fault anyway, I don't need to hear it again. _

_The Hogwarts play was brilliant, though! The twins played brothers and Lysander's character was out to get Lorcan's. The kids playing the main characters I swear will be famous one day. They were so convincing, I actually thought they were in love at one point … then Lorcan told me that in reality they barely knew each other. I was actually kind of disappointed, since I had created this whole backstory for them in my head while watching. To be told they didn't know each other felt kind of disheartening, like there's no chance for love, ever. _

_Am I sounding a bit morbid? I'm so sorry, LL. I don't mean to be. _

_I'm glad you're still having fun in New Zealand! Have you made it to Antarctica yet? I _seriously_ can't wait until Al and Bea's wedding; not only do I get to see you, but the ridiculous planning will finally be over, Al and Bea will be happy and I'll never have to see Annie 'Queen Godzilla' Bowmen ever again! The girl actually hired some of the models who work for the same agency as her to be guests at the wedding, something about making the aesthetic aura of the ceremony as beautiful as possible, or whatever the crap. In other words, she thinks all of Al's relatives are ugly and they need to be cancelled out with some pretty models. _

_Your mum has, for once, not requested that I ask you to come home! She says it's because she knows you're going to be coming home soon for the wedding, but secretly I think it's because she knows that her continued asking is just making you want to travel more. So now you don't have to worry about your mum nagging! And I know, I'm sorry that I can't come to visit you, even though a cruise ship does sound very tempting and I'd seriously love to get out of the country at the moment … but I'm afraid I just can't get out of work. But, erm, if someone happens to ask you within the next month or so, could you do me a favour and tell them that I actually am visiting you? I swear I'll explain later. _

_I hope you have a good time wherever you are at the moment … and I know that you'll just screw up this letter if I don't mention Scorpius somehow, so I'll give you _a bit _of something. It's awkward. So bloody awkward. It's been nearly two weeks now and I've somehow managed to avoid him completely! But I'm absolutely dreading the moment I have to face him again and I know that I'll have to at some point … there's just no getting around the fact that he's a part of my life now and probably always will be. That doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. _

_Al reckons I'm just being stupid, seeing as I've slammed doors in his face at six in the morning, just to avoid seeing him, but in my opinion, I could take it even further! I'm considering ringing their flat first – yes, on the fellytone! – to see if the coast is clear. _

… _Merlin, I miss you and your advice. I think I've gone insane. _

_Look after yourself, _

_Rosie. xox_

_PS. I really can't answer your question. At the moment, all I keep thinking is I hate him, but … well. I'll let you interpret that._

* * *

I took a deep breath before knocking on the door to the flat. I knew I shouldn't be here. I knew that this was probably just going to cause more drama. But I couldn't help it; I'm nothing if not stubborn and it's not like I've got anything else in my life going for me. I closed my eyes as I knocked and waited for him to answer.

"Rosie?"

"Hugo!"

I threw myself at my little brother in the doorway. Hugo looked utterly confused, which didn't surprise me; I love my brother dearly, but with our lives being so busy, we both really only saw each other at family gatherings. My little brother was basically a little kid at heart, only he hated the spotlight. I think the Sorting Hat placed him in Gryffindor because he knew Hugo had it in him (Hugo had fearfully admitted to me the day before September 1st that he was worried that he would be put in Hufflepuff). But I knew how brave my brother could be. The evidence of it was in fact currently lounging on his sofa, pouring through what looked like account records.

"Hi, Caroline." I said politely to my brother's girlfriend.

"Rose!" Caroline dropped all the papers from her hands. "H-hello! Nice to see you, again."

"There's no need to be afraid, I'm not here to announce another Weasley Terror Event!" I told her with a grin and Caroline visibly relaxed with a shaky laugh. Hugo was eyeing me shrewdly.

"Rosie, not that I don't love you and everything," he said as he gestured for me to come inside and shut the door behind me. "But what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working or something?"

"Only for the next two weeks! At the end of the month I've got a couple of weeks time off," I said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Work thinks I'm heading out to New Zealand to visit LL!"

"… and you're not?" Hugo asked.

I scoffed. "You think I could afford to jet off halfway around the world for ten days or so? Hugo, please. But don't tell Al or Bea, they think I'm visiting her, too."

"You going to explain your life of deceit and lies?" Hugo asked, amused now. Caroline joined us as we sat down at Hugo's kitchen table and my brother lovingly poured me a cup of tea.

"It all started with a Healer course," I admitted, accepting his cup, gratefully. "At the end of the month, some Healers from Belgium are coming to London to do a week long course in emergency procedures. They've invited the blokes from St Mungo's to come join them for extra-credit, but not the girls. Only blokes can be Healers in Belgium, I've got no idea where that barmy rule came about."

"That's right, my cousin's from Belgium," Caroline nodded. "His sister moved to England so she could become a Healer."

"Right!" I pointed out. "You should've seen the complaining from the girls in my trainee year, they nearly tore our boss to pieces! The blokes have the opportunity to gain extra work and get that boost up in the selection process at the end of the year, whereas the girls just have to work harder! It's so not fair."

Hugo had been eyeing me with scepticism this whole time and now I got the feeling he already knew what I was planning. "You're going to go on this training course anyway, aren't you?"

"Of course, Hugo," I said. "Here I was thinking you knew me!"

"Rosie, are you _insane_?" Hugo shook his head as I drank my tea. I'd been expecting this response. "I'm normally up for an adventure, but you've got several problems to face, here."

"I know," I said. "That's why I came to you."

"What the hell am _I_ supposed to do about it?!"

"You can teach me how to act like a bloke!" I said. "I couldn't ask Al, he would sell me out to Mum or something in an instant and Scorpius is clearly out. James wouldn't take me seriously and Trevor can't keep a secret to save his life, so you were pretty much my only option!"

"Ok, even if I _agreed_ to help you," my brother said, almost laughing at my stark-raving mad plan. "One: even if you managed to disguise yourself as a bloke and go, who will you claim to be? The Belgium team won't claim you and the blokes on your own course won't recognise you! Two: if you figured that out, how would you get the credit put under _your_ name? Three: um … well, you're a girl," He gestured vaguely to my chest. "That'll be pretty hard to cover …"

"Aw, c'mon, Hugo!" Caroline gave an encouraging smile. "I'm sure your sister has a plan! Don't you, Rose?"

"Um, I was sort of figuring this out as I went along …" I admitted. Caroline gave me a look that clearly said, _not helping_.

"For a Ravenclaw, you're not that great at working out the minor details, are you?" Hugo snorted.

"That was Bea's job, I was the big picture girl."

"That's what I thought," I honestly thought Hugo was going to tell me it was impossible. But then, he cracked his knuckles, exchanged a look with Caroline and grinned at me. "Well, I suppose we'd better get cracking, then! Looks like I'm finally getting that big brother I always wanted!"

* * *

In hindsight, sneaking off into a forbidden training that could potentially get me fired if I was caught was probably a bad idea. But damn it, I was determined to do something that I could control. I wasn't going to have rude, middle-aged men telling me that I couldn't do something just because I was a _girl_. I could probably whip half the blokes on my course's arses into shape if I wanted! I wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Together, Hugo and I figured out a plan. I would be playing the role of Rose Weasley's older cousin, who was a Healer in Exeter and was invited to the course by a convenient letter signed by his boss (otherwise known as Caroline writing with her non-wand hand). Upon completing the course, he would decide that emergency procedures is not the department for him and request that his credit be transferred to his closest cousin: the wonderful, rule-abiding Rose Weasley.

"Is that actually allowed?" Caroline asked as she wrote the letter. "I mean, what if they don't want the credit transferred to someone else without having done the course?"

"Ah, but they'll have no choice!" I said. "For my cousin will just so happen to be the Head of Department for the trainee programme in Exeter and will have the power to do so!"

"Why haven't the other girls invented long-lost cousins for this?" Caroline laughed.

"Because their names aren't Rose Weasley," Hugo rolled his eyes. "Right! So remember what I taught you?"

"Of course, I've been practicing!" I said. I gathered my thoughts and offered a hand to Hugo to shake. "Hey, I'm Kevin Weasley from the Exeter Magical Hospital, I'm sure you've been expecting me. No? Oh, mate, I told my boss to send that letter! Here, it's from the hospital manager; can't rely on them, can you? Whoa, mate, check that out! Hot babe, hell _she's_ got a rack!" I grinned. "Blokey enough for you?"

"I dunno, Rosie, I reckon you might just pull this off," Hugo said, looking impressed. "Just make sure to not go all overly emotional or forget to cast a concealment charm on your boobs."

"Thanks, Hugo."

"Hey, what are brothers for?" Hugo said.

"Apparently, dressing up their sisters as blokes so they can sneak into an illegal Healing course." Caroline put in from where she was leaning over the coffee table.

Hugo then offered me a biscuit as Caroline finished off the letter for me. I had to admit, I quite liked that girl. "Must say, Hugo, you picked a keeper there," I told him, the two of us standing in the kitchen together. "Caroline's great! She can keep a secret, right?"

"Of course she can, Rosie," Hugo said glancing through the kitchen doors at his girlfriend with a fond expression. "And yeah, I know. I still have no idea how she ended up going out with me. Barely said two words to me at Hogwarts."

"You knew her back then?" I asked.

"Year above me," Hugo shrugged. "Kind of fancied her, got her to dance with me at the Christmas Ball back in third-year. I sort of forgot about her once she left school and in seventh-year I went out with Amy, so she was basically the last thing on my mind. After Amy and I ended, it was years until I saw Caroline again. It wasn't until I walked into her tea shop in Diagon Alley, two years ago that we met once more."

"What the hell were you doing in a tea shop?" I snorted.

"I'd heard that their froth was to die for!" Hugo said, rolling his eyes at me as he stuffed another biscuit in his mouth. "Whatever, it was worth it. She's brilliant."

"Has she moved in, yet?" I asked him, noticing the array of girly things in my brother's flat. Here and there, I would spot something that clearly belonged to Caroline; the flowery mug in the sink, the pink cooking apron hung by the oven, the collection of high-heeled shoes spilling from Hugo's room and, from my visit to the bathroom, I'd seen two toothbrushes in a cup.

Hugo turned faintly pink and I almost giggled at the sight. "Sort of. Not officially," He glanced at the floor. "I want her to. Reckon I should ask?"

"I dunno, I say just do what's right for you," I suddenly didn't feel like my biscuit, despite the fact that it tasted divine. I chucked it back on the kitchen counter behind us. "Moving in was kind of a disaster for me, but it could be perfect for you."

"Yeah …" Hugo gave me a look, like he wanted to hug me or something. "Look, Rosie, I heard about you and Scorpius from Al. I'm sorry, sis."

"Thanks." I said, because I couldn't think of what else to say and also, because Hugo looked pretty heartbroken for me.

"I'm serious," he said at once. "If you want me to hunt that bloke down and curse his arse off, just give me the word and he's a dead man!"

"Thanks for the offer," I smiled at him. "But I think I'm ok for now."

"Please, assure me," Hugo said. "You're not going out on this huge bad-girl bender, screwing the rules and dressing up as a bloke because of him, are you?"

"Why the hell would I be doing it because of _him_?" I said.

Hugo shrugged. "Because you're trying to fill the hole in your life with work? Because you want to prove to yourself that you don't need him? Because you want to prove to him that you can do this without his support? Because you're insisting that you're already over him? Because–?"

"Ok!" I cut in. "Would you believe me if I said no?"

"No."

"Fine," I gave him a grim look. "I'm 'not doing because of him'. But the whole drama might have … encouraged me slightly. Given me the courage to actually do it, because I'd been wishing I was brave enough to do this ever since I found out about the course! The whole Scorpius thing just reminded me that everything comes and goes and that if I don't seize this opportunity now, it might never come again! I almost don't care about the extra credit, I just want the _experience_. He might have been the trigger," I nudged my brother with my arm. "but he's not making me. I'm the one doing this."

"Is it true that _you_ were the one who dumped him?" he asked, a little out of the blue.

"Yes," I huffed. "C'mon, did Al influence you? Honestly, I'm not an idiot! Even I know a lost cause when I see one."

"But were the two of you _really_ a lost cause?" Hugo asked. "Sorry, I swear, I'm not defending him!" he quickly added at my glare. "Not at all! But … it's just, I know how much you loved him. And you might deny it, but you were _great_ together, Rosie. I even kind of liked that bloke, even if it was mainly just to see Dad get all pissed off."

"Would you stop _worrying_?" I said, exasperatedly. "I'm fine with it!"

"If I believed that, I wouldn't be standing here, asking you," Hugo told me and I glanced guilty away. "Rosie," he said. "You've been together since you were sixteen. I'll stop worrying if you tell me that you're happy. Seriously, I swear I'll stop pestering if you can look me in the eye and honest to Merlin tell me that you are absolutely fine with this, that you are completely happy with the decision you made."

"I …" I still stared at the floor, but slowly I dragged my eyes up to my brother's face. Looking at his eyes, I knew that no matter what answer I gave him, he would never stop worrying about me. So I told him the truth. "Hugo, I'm bloody _miserable_. I miss him so much, everything aches. I've been avoiding him for over two weeks now because I know that if I see him, I'm just going to end up caving and begging him to take me back. But our relationship was going nowhere, so I had to do it. It was the right thing to do."

"If you say so," Hugo said, softly. "But if it's any consolation, I think you make a pretty fantastic big brother. By the time Caroline and I are through with you, you'll be fending off hoards of girls with a ten-foot broomstick!"

Conclusion to Hugo, Scorpius and just blokes in general: 

-Have I mentioned that I love my brother?

-Once Hugo and Caroline flitted around with their concealment and other charms, I made one very handsome boy! I was pretty convincing, if I do say so myself, which is a relief since I had been worried that my lady assets would give me away.

-Is this plan _insane_? Definitely. Will I do it anyway? Oh, yes!

-I stand by my decision to break up with Scorpius, but it's still the hardest choice I've ever had to make. Every time I found myself wavering, I forced myself to remember all the reasons I hated him. Once I got into a roll, it actually wasn't that hard!

-Blokes. They're insane. I don't know why the hell I ever put up with them.

Rose: 15, Scorpius: 16.

(I'm fine! I don't need a _bloke_ in my life!).

* * *

A/N: When I wrote GIR, I always wished that an opportunity for Rose to pretend to be a boy would come up, just like Viola. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it work. Then, writing CGIR, I found that there was a perfect opportunity! I know that Rose's plan is completely _crazy, _but Rose is essentially a bit of a crazy person at the moment, and I hope you will look forward to Rose's insane attempts to get onto the Healer course anyway.

Thank you so much for your reviews! You've all been amazing and supportive. Please keep telling me what you think!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	15. The Incestuous One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, Cesario or slightly incestuous references.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 14: The Incestuous One.

I had a beard, no visible chest and my voice came out all low and manly. I don't know what the bloody hell possessed me to make me think that this was a good idea.

First of all, I thought I would be able to keep it a secret between me and my brother (and my brother's girlfriend). But of course that was only the first thing that went wrong.

* * *

"Rosie?" Bea's voice came from the bathroom, one evening near the end of January. "Come here?"

I hesitantly approached, considering it was the bathroom; unspeakable things can happen in that room. Down the end of the hall that led to our bedrooms, I poked my head around the door to see Bea in the middle of her morning wash routine, her curly hair pulled back from her face, a toothbrush hanging in her mouth like she'd forgotten about it and a small potion in her hands that made my insides freeze.

She glanced up as I entered the bathroom and held up the potion for me to see. "_Stimulating Facial Hair Growth_?" she read the label on the potion, pulling her toothbrush out of her mouth. "Rosie, _Twelfth Night_ was almost a month ago and we just charm your face to make you grow a moustache! What the hell d'you need a _hair-stimulating potion_ for?"

"That's not mine!" I said, automatically.

"Then who's?" Bea said scathingly, hands on hips now. "Because it's definitely not mine and you can't spin some story about Scorpius worrying about a receding hair-line anymore."

"Would you believe me if I said it was Al's?"

She shot me a look. "No."

"James?"

"No."

"… Hugo?"

"_No_!" Bea slammed the potion back on the shelf above the bathroom sink. "Rosie, look, if you've … erm, got something you need to tell me …" She looked uncomfortable. "Y'know I can take it, right? I'll love you, no matter what gender you are–"

"Whoa, ok!" I yelped, gesturing madly with my arms. "No, Bea! I swear, I am one hundred per cent woman and I want to stay this way!"

"Oh, thank Merlin, for a minute there, I thought I would have to start calling you 'Ross'," Bea breathed out. "But what the hell do you have that potion for?"

"Um … well …"

"_Rosie_," Bea sighed. To my surprise, she looked kind of hurt. "What the _hell_ is going on? You've hardly been around the last couple of weeks and now you're _lying_ to me?"

"I …"

I hadn't even considered that. Long story short, I'd ended up blurting out everything to her: that after roping in Hugo to help me, we'd come up with a plan for me to go on the illegal Healer training course undercover as a bloke. I'd been spending so much time with my brother over the past two weeks, because he'd been teaching me the ways of men and how to be one. Bea's mouth fell open a little bit more for every word I said. Eventually, when an entire swarm of bees could have flown into her gob, she snapped her mouth shut and said,

"Are you _insane_?"

"Just a little bit, yeah." I admitted.

"You said this was practically illegal!" Bea told me, the two of us now currently sitting on the bathmat in the middle of the room. "If you get caught out, you'll be kicked off the Healer programme for sure!"

"I know, but Bea–"

"Do you understand that, Rose Weasley? You won't just be fired, you'll be _kicked out_! No qualifications, _nothing_, and you've come so far! Remember those few days when you didn't know if you'd be accepted? You got through that, you got into the course and you've almost managed to complete five whole years! You can't just blow all that now on some stupid woman-rights movement!"

"BEA!" I yelled over my best friend and she fell silent with an exasperated expression. "I'm not doing this to exert my 'woman's-rights'," I told her. "Or, well, partly. I might be a little miffed that only blokes can go, but that's only another country's culture and who am I to question how they do things in Belgium? What I care about is getting the same level of treatment as everyone else! The least Healer Williams could do is hold a similar course for the women, so the men aren't at an unfair advantage to us, but the bastard doesn't care about anyone. I am _not_ going to just sit back and complain. I swear I'm going to do this and get the credit I deserve, because hell, like you said, I've been doing this for five bloody years! Healing is who I am now," I gave Bea a _please understand_ look. "C'mon, Bea … it's not like it's the _first_ time I've impersonated a man."

Bea rolled her eyes. "That was for a play where it didn't _matter_ if people knew or not. You'd have to be so convincing, Rosie, and let's face it, you're not exactly normal …"

"Aw, c'mon," I decided not to argue the 'not normal' comment. She was probably right. "Viola could do it and she even managed to fool other girls!"

"Viola is a _fictional character_!" Bea cried, exasperatedly. "She was made up for the sake of the story!"

"Bea, if anyone could pull this off," I said, giving her a hard look across the bathmat. "Who would it be?"

Bea just looked like she wanted to slap me and trust me, I've seen the result of one of Bea's slaps before; it wasn't pretty. But even she knew it would be a lie to say anything other than, "You."

"Exactly!" I said. "_Please_, just go with this one, yeah? I could do with someone to cover back home."

"So you mean you were _never_ going to be visiting Lily?" Bea said and I nodded. She rubbed her eyes warily. "Good god, I never knew you could lie so well! I never knew you could lie to _me_. I'm your best friend, Rosie, we tell each other everything!"

Damn it. I hadn't even thought that by lying, I could have potentially really hurt her. I took hold of Bea's hand tightly, holding it close to me as I got her to look at me. "Bea, I'm sorry," I said, honestly. "At the time, I thought that keeping it a secret would be the best thing, but I should have told you. Could you ever find it down deep in the bottom of your heart to forgive me?"

"Don't be sarcastic." Bea muttered, but I saw her stifle a smile. I gave Bea her hand back.

"So you'll cover for me?"

"I'm going to hell for it, but of course I will." Bea sighed and I yelped with delight, jumping to my knees to throw my arms around her.

"Thank you, thank you!" I cried. "I swear, the entire time I'm gone, I will work my bloody arse off!"

"Yes, when _are_ you leaving again?" Bea asked, prising my arms off from around her neck.

"This weekend," I said. "I leave Sunday afternoon and come back the following Friday, only I've got the next two weeks off, since according to work, I'm visiting LL overseas. Healer O'Satan wasn't happy, seeing as I happen to be leaving at the same time as all the fourth and fifth-year male trainees," I admitted. "But I pushed it until Healer O'Satan gave in."

"Is that the bitch Healer who's in charge of scheduling?"

"She _loves_ giving me fourteen hour shifts, just to spite me," I rolled my eyes before stretching out my legs and clambering to my feet. "Right. Off the bathroom floor," I said, helping up Bea. "I've got two more days to practice being a bloke! I'm getting pretty good at it, I must say."

"Watch out," Bea snorted. "You're gorgeous as it is, I'll bet you'll have girls salivating at your feet, if you're not careful."

* * *

So Bea found out and now knows everything. I sort of neglected to mention to her that another part of the reason I was going was to prove to myself that I didn't need Scorpius in my life. I might have told Hugo otherwise, but I don't think I could have stood the look on his face if I mentioned how much our break up had shaken me. I could jet off for several days and not miss him. I could do this without his help; I had my brother and my best friend! Scorpius could go shove it for all I cared.

I was still quite impressively avoiding him. It had been almost a month now since the ever fateful screaming match in Libby's bathroom and in that time, I think we'd exchanged barely ten words to each other, and that was when forced. Though, there had been one awkward moment last week where we'd _almost_ ended up having a conversation …

* * *

Bea wasn't at our flat and I needed to know if she would be over for dinner tonight. Glancing at the clock, I was disgruntled to see that Scorpius would have had plenty of time to get home from work by now. Damn my best friend … I had no choice but to hope that maybe he would be tired and have already gone to bed, or that he was in the shower, or … or …

Shower … naked skin … gah – um, I mean, so long as he wasn't in the lounge.

However, just my luck, he had been there, along with Al and Bea. Of course he noticed me the second I walked through the door. If we were anywhere else, he probably would have simply walked out; but this was _his_ flat and like hell was he going to be moving. As he sat on the sofa, watching some Muggle show on the P.V., his glare cut right through me. I think I kind of missed that and I almost made a rather dangerous/inappropriate comment like, _well, up yours too_, or _hur, hur, wanna snog?_ Luckily, I managed to contain myself, instead focussing on Bea sat next to him.

"Rosie!" Al looked shocked to see me, coming in from the kitchen with a just-boiled pot of tea. "Hey! Erm …" He glanced hopelessly at Scorpius, who rolled his eyes.

God, it hurt just to look at him. It felt like it had been a lifetime since I _wasn't_ allowed to touch him; wasn't allowed to run my hands through his blond hair, or to talk in somewhat civilised tones every now and then, or to kiss him when he did something stupid. No matter how many times I may have told myself that I was completely over him and didn't need him anymore, my resolve busted down whenever I looked at him. Did he feel the same? I wouldn't have a clue and it's not like he'd tell me anyway. That's why I dumped him in the first place.

"Did you want something, Rosie?" Bea leapt up in an attempt to smooth things over.

"Just to know whether you'd be over for dinner tonight," I said. However, I nodded at Al, who had tentatively sat down in Bea's vacated seat, slowly pouring tea for himself and Scorpius. "But I can see that you three have a wonderful night of tea and P.V. wasteland ahead, so I won't keep you."

"_Rosie_–" Bea said, but at that moment, Al and Scorpius's fellytone rang. I almost jumped, since we only really keep those things around a) for amusement's sake and b) so Bea could keep in close contact with her Muggle family. However, as of late, she'd been ready to throw the thing out the bloody window. "–DAMN IT! If that's my mother again, I swear, I'm going to–!"

She ripped the fellytone off the stand and pressed the button. "Hello?! Yes, _hi_–" Her eye twitched. "Look, Mum, you can't keep ringing around all my mate's places, hoping to find me! If I don't answer my own phone, it probably means I don't want to talk to you! No – _what_? _Crocodiles_? What the hell, Annie's got to be kidding …" She was quick to disappear down off to Al's room, now complaining loudly to her mother about more crazy wedding plans.

Just when I thought things couldn't get more awkward, something dinged in the kitchen and Al cried, "Ooh! My biscuits! I'll be right back!" and he leapt up and sprinted to the kitchen, leaving Scorpius and I alone for the first time in three weeks.

I coughed awkwardly, vividly remembering the last time we'd been alone in the same room together. There had been a severe lack of clothes then and we'd actually been on somewhat speaking terms … despite the fact that there was definitely no speaking that night.

Thinking about _that _is really not going to help, Rose.

We hastily avoided each other's eye until I couldn't stand it anymore and I blurted out, "A kid at work today farted after drinking a flammable potion and the entire ward exploded!"

Scorpius gave me a strange look. "Um …"

"My hair caught on fire!" I kept rambling. "Not that you could tell the difference, my hair's red anyway! I'm going to New Zealand next week, you going to drink that? No?" I grabbed one of the poured mugs of the tea on the coffee table and I gulped it practically in one go.

"… you're bloody weird." Scorpius told me.

"Yeah, well, you smell!" I countered. "I've got to go feed my pet tarantula!"

And I stormed out of the flat. I mean, seriously, _you smell_? What am I, five?

* * *

So naturally, by the time it came to leave my flat dressed as a bloke and to Floo to the hotel on the other side of London city for the block course, I was very, _very_ happy to do so. Hugo and Caroline helped me with my disguise and I must say, I made one hell of a convincing bloke! Viola would honestly be so proud of me.

My curly mop of hair normally hung down way past my shoulders, but Hugo had charmed it so short that it now resembled my brother's hair. Thanks to a well-placed charm and the facial-hair growth stimulation potion that I'd been taking, we'd managed to create a lovely short beard just to further emphasise the manly-ness about me. I'd been most worried about the concealment charm around my chest; what if I forgot one morning or it wore off before I could secretly re-cast it? Plus, I wasn't entirely sure how effective it would be. My wonderful lady assets could be hard to ignore at times (or at least that's how Scorpius had once put it).

But Caroline had worked her magic and thanks to my height, I now resembled a lanky, gingery bloke in his early twenties. If I wasn't so terrified at being caught out, I would have rather enjoyed randomly strolling through London's streets and people saying, 'Here you go, Sir' as they serve me in the shops.

The hotel we were staying at for the course was one of those large, fancy ones that came with several conference rooms for groups like ours. When I first arrived, it wasn't hard to locate the party from St Mungo's; the trainees stuck out like an old lady at a rock concert. There were about twenty-odd from our hospital, made up of fourth and fifth-year trainees. They were all wearing their green Healer robes, clearly so Healer Williams could keep them wrangled in, but all it was causing was all the other guests to stare as they milled about the lobby, taking up nearly every spare space available. The Belgian Healers were all standing together, looking slightly nervous, and there was about thirty of them and all. The hotel manager was trying to chivvy them all off to their rooms as Healer Williams tried to converse with the Head of Healer Training from Belgium, a Healer Julien Peeters, apparently. It was the only thing he'd managed to get out of him at this point, since it was clear that Healer Peeters was still working on his English.

"He's saying your rooms are on the _fourth floor_!" Healer Williams was yelling. One of the other Healers from St Mungo's, Healer Richardson, who was Head of Ground Floor Artefacts Accidents and assistant trainer, was busy fluffing around and making a nuisance of himself as Healer Peeters just continued to look confused. "Fourth floor, number _four_! Get it?"

"Sir, I need your party to start moving from my lobby," the hotel manager was saying exasperatedly, a bunch of poor bell-hops struggling with the amount of luggage; the Belgian Healers all seemed to have packed for months. "You're blocking the way to the lifts!"

"Er, Robert?" Healer Richardson was blinking behind his thick glasses and trying desperately to get Healer Williams to move. "Maybe we should listen to the manager … statute of secrecy and all that …"

Eventually, the hotel manager got Healer Peeters to understand where his party would be staying and everyone was roped towards the lifts to settle in before the course started at seven am tomorrow morning. I had leapt in before I lost my courage and tried to convince Healer Williams that I was of course supposed to be on this course. When I handed him the letter and spoke about never being able to rely on hospital mangers – it was common knowledge that Healer Williams thought himself the best person to run St Mungo's – he eventually softened.

"Of course, Healer Weasley," He actually gave me a grin, which shocked me. I don't think I'd ever been on the receiving end of one of those! "You'll have to tell me all about your role in training Healers in Exeter … you don't have much contact with your cousin, do you?" he added, his eyes narrowing.

"Oh, no!" I quickly said in my low voice. "Rose and I only really talk at family occasions. Obligated, since we're related and all that. But outside family, not really." I severely hoped that was the right answer, considering Healer Williams hated all the trainees, especially me for some reason. I was so grateful that thanks to my made-up cousin's made-up status at Exeter Magical Hospital (which, to be honest, I had no idea was a real place, so could have been made-up as well), Healer Williams wouldn't be able to do anything about the credit getting transferred to Rose Weasley. I really am a genius.

"Right then," Healer Williams nodded. He snapped a finger at Healer Richardson, who quickly darted over, carrying a clipboard. "Henry, we need to make room for Healer Weasley. He was left off the list by mistake. Where can we put him?"

"We can't afford another room, Robert," Healer Richardson searched through the room plan; it looked like we were more or less taking over the hotel. "Maybe we can put him with the Belgian's–?"

"He can come with me, Sir," came a voice I knew well and to my relief, I saw Gerald Brown carrying his own suitcase and giving me a grin. "There's a spare bed in my room. Max is sick and couldn't make it."

"Fine," Healer Williams thankfully let me continue without a protest. "I'll see you with the others bright and early tomorrow, Healer Weasley! You might be Head of Training at _your_ hospital," He gave me a smirk that painfully reminded me of Scorpius. "But you're working for _me_ now."

* * *

So somehow, I'd managed to survive this far. I was almost certain that pretty much every single bloke I talked to had found me out and I tried not to think about the fact that I was freaking out slightly. In fact, the hardest part had been speaking to Gerald, of all people!

"So what's your name, mate?" he had asked me once we'd reached our room on the fifth floor of the hotel. It was large enough for four people, Callum also staying with us, but with Max gone it felt like we got a whole lot of extra room. There were two bedrooms with two beds in each, along with a small lounge and bathroom between the two bedrooms, so it could be accessed from either side.

As Callum happily dived straight into the snacks provided by the hotel and Gerald sat down onto our sofa, I panicked for a second. Shit, I could hardly call myself Rose; what _was_ my name? Hugo and I had thought of something, but it had completely flown from my mind! As a result, I blurted out the first thing that came to me,

"Uh, Cesario!" I said, sitting down next to him with a grimace. Honestly. Cesario was the name Viola had used as her cover as a boy. It might have been normal back in Elizabethan England, but as for 2029, not so much.

"Cesario?" Gerald said. "That's unusual, don't hear that every day."

"Oh, that's nothing," I said, again without thinking. "You should hear my boyfriend's name–"

Immediately, I wanted to kick myself. Not only for the slip up of calling Scorpius my boyfriend – he was gone, completely out of my life, he wasn't supposed to keep popping up in casual conversation! – but now I was Rose Weasley's gay cousin. Oh, well. At least now I didn't have to pretend to like girls. That could have just been awkward.

"Oh," Gerald nodded. "You have a boyfriend?"

"Er, yeah," _Apparently_. "… Hyperion."

"Kind of weird, yeah," Gerald snorted. "So how come I've never heard of you? I'm pretty good friends with Rose and Healer Williams said she's your cousin?"

"Um, yes," Oh, god. I hadn't even thought to come up with a cover story for this. Quick, think on the spot, Rose! "Well, I live in Exeter, with my boyfriend, Hyperion, so we don't talk much. Love her and everything, of course."

"Y'know, I'm pretty sure Rose once said that she was the only Healer in the family," Gerald smirked. "Clearly, she forgot about you."

"Ah, that's probably because she hates me," I quickly said. "Threw her into a duck pond when we were younger and she still hasn't forgiven me! I try to make it up to her every Christmas, but sadly, no such luck …"

Thankfully, Gerald didn't pry much further into the many aspects of 'Cesario's life and the three of us all went to bed fairly early, thanks to us having to be up before seven the next morning. By unspoken agreement, Callum and Gerald let me have one of the rooms to myself while they shared; clearly, as lovely as they thought of me, both didn't really want to share the same room as a gay bloke. It became a good thing since I was able to sleep without all the concealment charms, which make it really start to hurt to breathe after a while. Unfortunately, I had quite forgotten the extent of boy grossness and the next morning, I had woken up bleary-eyed to use the bathroom and was treated to the sight of Gerald practically naked.

"AH!" I had screamed, slapping a hand over my face as Gerald jumped, apparently having just got out of the shower, the tiniest towel in the universe around his waist and not even bothering to lock the bloody door. "MY EYES! THEY BURN!"

"Geez, Rose is only about as half as dramatic as you, and that's saying something," Gerald laughed. "Mate, next time knock, yeah?"

"Knock? Really? Haven't you heard of LOCKING THE DOOR?!"

It was embarrassing that day to have to work alongside a good friend of mine, who now thought of me as his friend's gay and prude-ish cousin, but I felt guiltier at the fact that I had almost seen Gerald naked when Ally was back at St Mungo's, thinking I was living it up with Lily in New Zealand. Having only really gotten Ally's side in the whole 'Gerald-and-Ally-Fiasco-Relationship-Drama' I was kind of curious to find out what Gerald had to say, but figured it would be best once I'd managed to get the image of his burly chest out of my mind.

The training course was absolutely _amazing_. Any doubts I might have had about sneaking onto the course flew from my mind when I realised how much I was actually going to learn. I'd worked in emergency departments all over St Mungo's by now, but I'd never covered training quite like this. The entire morning was dedicated to what procedures to take if a magical epidemic broke out. There had been an amusing moment where we had to role-play our 'gut reactions' to facing a potentially contagious patient and Daniel had demonstrated what he would do by dive-bombing poor Jono, shocking Healer Peeters and causing the rest of the Belgian Healers to laugh their arses off.

"SIR, YOU ARE CONTAMINATED! WE MUST CONTAIN YOU IN A SECURE LOCATION!" Daniel yelled.

"OUCH!" Jono had cried from under Daniel. "Darling, watch the face–!"

To my surprise, lunch had been provided by a self-employed catering company, rather than the restaurant attached to the hotel (too expensive, Healer Williams had admitted to me. It is honestly weird to be all buddy-buddy with my boss). Straight away, I was wishing that Healer Williams hadn't been such a cheapskate when I realised exactly who's company he'd happened to employ,

"Right, boys, the line starts here!" my cousin, Dominique, or Dom to her family, was yelling over the excited voices of fifty hungry males. "No shoving, or you won't get food! Though I must say," She eyed Alex, who smirked back. "Come to me later and _then_ I might not mind a bit of shoving …"

Trust my cousin to be the one serving us. She'd been banging on about her catering business for ages now! It had been the one job she'd managed to hold down without quitting/getting fired/having the business go bankrupt. It didn't help that she was generally quite lazy as a persona. I loved Dom, honestly; she was sarcastic and to be honest, a bit of a slag, but that was why she was fantastic. Her strawberry blond hair was cut to her shoulders and her blue eyes sparkled as she flirted with practically every bloke she served lunch to. I was sincerely hoping that nobody realised that she was another Weasley cousin, or I would be facing a whole lot of explaining as to why my own cousin had never even heard of me.

"Here you go, mate," Dom told me. "Don't eat it all at once. If you need a demonstration," She winked at me. "I'll show you how to _bite_."

I bit back a gag. My own cousin was _flirting_ with me. "Er, thanks." I muttered, keeping my head down. Dom gave me an odd look, but couldn't keep me holding up the line, so she let me carry on.

Thankfully, after lunch it was straight back into the training, moving on into emergency spell damage, so Dom didn't have a chance to come back with her 'bite'. We were worked all day, right up until five so by the time we were let go, I was bloody exhausted. The next morning was another seven am start, along with the one after that; but the entire time I was learning and it was absolutely exhilarating, despite the fact that I was constantly tired. The course was officially for five days, so by the time we had finished our second to last day on Thursday evening, I was ready to just go back upstairs and collapse onto my hotel bed, ready for our last full day tomorrow. However, as I crossed the lobby, Gerald and several other blokes from our course called out to me, all dressed to the nines and milling about by the front doors.

"Hey, Cesario!" Gerald waved. "We're heading out to the pub, you want to join?"

"Ah, I'm a bit tired–"

"Mate, we're _all_ tired, we've been working all week!" Timothy called as Ben called out an agreement. "That's why we're getting pissed!"

Ah, what the hell? If this was a bad idea, I'd realise tomorrow.

* * *

"Darling, you _have_ to come work at St Mungo's!" Jono was telling me, drunk out of his mind, but still lovely enough to call me 'darling'. "You're simply divine!"

"Why, thank you."

"You and Hyperion should come double date with Jared and I!" Jono said, excitedly. "Oh, we've been looking for another couple to date with for years!"

"Oh, no, we couldn't–"

"Yes, you can!" Jono insisted. "I'm not taking no for an answer!"

"Ah–"

"Lovely!" Jono threw an arm around my shoulders in a hug. "I have no idea why Rosie's never mentioned you before!"

"Because of a childhood incident involving a duck pond, apparently," Gerald put in, leaping down to our end of the table. The Muggle pub was already extremely crowded for a Thursday night, so I'm pretty sure we'd given the bartenders a heart attack when the lot of us showed up roughly two hours ago. About fifteen minutes in, several Belgian Healers had joined our group and us from St Mungo's had cheered, welcoming our new comrades. I had just been starting to think that I could get through this without accidentally screwing up and revealing myself when Jono had started jabbering on about my cousin, Rosie.

I must say, it was funny and somewhat enlightening to get the inside scoop of what the boys thought of me. According to several of the single blokes (and some not so single blokes), I was 'bloody smoking!' It was too bad that I had 'that boyfriend of hers'.

"What, Scorpius?" I said without thinking.

"Aw, him, yeah," Daniel sighed. "I've got no idea why they go out, every time I see them, they're screaming at each other!"

"Mate, you know they broke up, right?" Gerald said, rolling his eyes. Ok, that hurt slightly, hearing it so off-hand like that.

"Really?" Daniel said, eyes lighting up. "Reckon she wants a rebound? I'd–"

"Oi!" I had said in indignation, briefly forgetting that I was not Rose, but Cesario. When Daniel gave me a weird look, I coughed and said, "Uh, not cool, mate … she _is_ a person."

"Yeah, give Rose some credit!" Gerald thwacked him over the head.

I sighed as Daniel moved on to other girls. Another potential exposure aborted for now. I almost considered going back to the hotel, thinking that this wasn't worth it, when Ben cut in with a comment that suddenly made me listen intently,

"Aw, quit sticking up for those girls of yours." Daniel was currently grumbling, taking another swig of his just normal Muggle beer (not nearly as good at Butterbeer, but it would do for the night).

"Not going to happen, darling," Jono pointed out. "Gerald loves his girls!"

Gerald coughed awkwardly. "Um, well–"

"Oh, come on," Ben scoffed. "If he was going to get it on with Ally, he would have done it by now!"

That had made Gerald choke on his own beer as the other boys started laughing at his reaction. Suddenly very interested, I feigned innocence and asked, "Who's Ally?"

"Another girl on our course," Daniel explained. "Bit shy, not much of a looker, but Gerald's all over her, aren't you?"

"I – I'm not – I mean–"

"Come off it," Ben snorted. "I'm telling you, it's not going to happen! They've been buggering around for years now! Ally won't even talk to him!"

"I believe that they will get past this and find true love!" Jono declared, waving his arms in the air in a dramatic fashion.

"True love?" Daniel snorted. "He has to stop being an arsehole first–"

"You lot _do_ realise I'm right here, don't you?" Gerald managed to grind out.

Far from taking pity on him and changing the subject, I asked, "Mate, what did you do to make her hate you so much?"

"Nothing!" Gerald pointed a finger at me. "You! Don't you listen to these idiots," He gestured to Daniel, Ben and Jono, who were all listening in. When he noticed their laughing, Gerald winced and muttered, "Erm … well, look, it was probably because I ignored her for quite a while after she told me she loved me. Both times. Tends to piss a girl off, y'know?"

"Bloody idiot, you are!" Daniel was shaking his head. "Gerald man, if you still want her, you got to do something about it! I know she's not that hot, but mate, when was the last time you had sex at _all_?"

"Ally's gorgeous," Gerald snapped. Then, seeming to realise what he'd said, he mentioned, "But that's not the point–!"

"Mate," Daniel put in. "Sex is _always _the point."

Is he for bloody real?

"Ah, look man, I reckon you could do better," Ben just shrugged. "You tried Beth?"

Gerald shot him an almost poisonous look and I knew why; Bethany was a lovely girl, however had managed to get herself a bit of a reputation as a slut, thanks to her sleeping with nearly every bloke on our course who was single and straight. "She's never gone for me, thank the lord." Gerald said through gritted teeth.

"It's because of Ally!" Jono cried. "She knows you're off limits! Ally _must_ still love you!"

"Look, even if she did!" Gerald said, exasperatedly. "I've hurt her too many times that she'd never take me seriously! I screwed up majorly, ok?"

While the blokes seemed resigned to this fact, like hell was I going to take this lightly! I had been at the other end with Ally, making sure she was ok and trying to come up with excuses as to why Gerald must be acting the way he was. There was no way I was letting him give up now. "Y'know what?" I said. "I reckon you should just go for it."

"There, see?" Jono pointed out. "Cesario gets it!"

"Look mate, you really haven't got the whole story from these guys–"

"I don't need the whole story," I cut in. "You love this girl, right?"

"Er … well, kind of, yeah …"

Not exactly a hard out 'yes' but it would do for now. "Well, what have you got to lose? Sounds to me that you've been mucking her about for ages now; don't you think it's about bloody time that you _sort your shit out_? You either give it a go or put her out of her misery!" I sincerely hoped he was going to go for the first option. When Gerald gave me a determined look, I knew that I'd done my job.

"Actually, yeah!" he said. "You're right! I want to be with Ally and I have to tell her!"

"You go, sister!" Jono cried, happily.

"Yes!" Gerald slammed his drained beer back onto the table and stood up. "I'll tell her right now!"

"WOO!" Jono cheered.

"Uh … maybe you should wait until you're sober, yeah?" I quickly added. It took a bit of convincing, but eventually I managed to get Gerald to sit back down and just ponder ways in which he could talk to Ally without pissing her off yet again. I offered to go get re-fills for the boys as several of the Belgian Healers struck up a new conversation, so I was grateful to get away from the crowd. As much as I adored working with those guys, hanging out with them for too long sort of made me wish for my womanhood to remain intact. If I wasn't careful, I would find myself cheering at the thought of 'copping off with that hot chick down the bar!' Thank _god_ I'm gay!

However, at said bar, I ended up bumping into someone and when I turned to apologise, it was to see my wonderful cousin, Dom, of all people. Apparently, she and her catering company were looking for a night out as well and she'd chosen the best place in all of London; the pub packed with male Healers.

"Oh, I'm so sorry–" I quickly said, keeping my face down.

"Oh, don't mind me, babe," Dom smiled at me, tossing back her gorgeous hair. "You're with the … doctors, right?"

Our front was a course for Muggle doctors instead of Healers. Dom and her business catered specifically for magical functions and clearly knew we were wizards (except for the one disguised witch) but she couldn't be too sure in this crowded pub. "Er, yeah," I admitted. "I'm Head of Healer Training at Exeter Magical Hospital–"

"No way!" Dom laughed. "I've got a cousin who's a Healer! She's still training, but she'll totally make it someday. You look young to be a Head of Department …"

"Oh, um, skipped a year at Hogwarts," I completely lied to my cousin's face. "Sorry, I should get back to my mates–"

"Oh, well, you could," Dom took a step forward and I stumbled in my haste to back away from her. Good god, why did my cousin have to be such a flirt?! I hadn't counted on incestuous relations during this training! "Or you could hang out with me … trust me," She grabbed hold of the loops on my jeans and dragged me to her. My neck was bright red and my hands sort of flapped, unsure about where to put them. Leaning close, she practically whispered in my ear, "I know how to show you a good time …"

"Erm," I squeaked. "That's – that's really flattering, really, but–"

"Don't waste your time, sweetheart!" Daniel called. "He's gay!"

_Thank you_, Daniel! Disappointed, Dom stepped away and I could breathe again. "Oh," she shrugged. "Sorry. Or I dunno, you into girls, too?"

"No, trust me," I said, quickly. "I'm very much a boys-only … man." I added the last part with only a slight hesitation.

Dom snorted. "So how come you're doing the training with the St Mungo's boys?"

"Oh, just re-learning some basics–" I said.

"And he knows some people," Ben added from the table. "Still can't believe you're cousins with Rose, man."

"Rose?" Dom suddenly looked confused. Damn it, damn Ben! You should take notes from Daniel, he gets me! "Rose Weasley?"

"No–"

"Yeah, that's the one!" Ben said, cheerfully and I resisted the urge to leap across the table and strangle him. Shut up, _shut up_! "Don't talk much now. Why, you know Rose?"

"You tell me," Dom turned away from the boys and gave me a very suspicious look. Under her breath, she said, "Ok, first off, you are _not_ cousins with Rose Weasley, because _I_ am cousins with Rose and trust me, I don't know you!"

"I–" I began, weakly. "I mean, it's me! Your cousin, Cesario!"

"You can take your Cesario and shove it!" Dom burst out, rather angry now. "I don't have a cousin Cesario and trust me, I have a lot of cousins! I know every single one, even the ones on Auntie Hermione's side of the family; _there aren't any_." She glared at me.

Noticing that the boys over at the table were watching us argue with curious expressions, I grabbed Dom's wrist and dragged her to the opposite side of the pub, down a hallway that led to the bathrooms. When we were away from most of the people and the thumping music was slightly duller, I began hastily, "Dom–"

"You can't call me Dom!" She yanked her wrist back, roughly. "I don't even know you!"

"Yes, you do!" I said, desperately. "Once, when you were eleven and I was eight, you pulled my hair and I told on you to your dad! He wouldn't let you have pudding and you beheaded my doll in retaliation!"

Dom's eyes went wide. "… _Rose_?" she gasped.

Oh, bloody hell. Well, if I've screwed this up, I might as well do it properly. "Fine, yes!" I admitted. "Yeah, Dom, it's me, it's Rose."

"What the buggering hell are you doing dressed like _that_?!" she yelped, taking a hasty step backwards. "Holy shit, I _hit on _you!"

"Trust me, I was just as disgusted!" I assured her. "Look, I'm serious Dom, you can't tell _anyone_ who I really am–"

"Really?" Dom just let out a shaky look. "Bloody hell, Rosie. That is one hell of a disguise! I had _no_ idea you were my cousin! You going to explain _any_ of this? Because I have no bloody clue what's going on!"

"It's sort of a long story," I said. "But to try and cut it down, this training course was only offered to the male trainees, because it's a Belgian tradition for only men to be Healers and we had to honour that, or something. I took matters into my own hands and decided to come anyway! Understand?"

"Not in the slightest," Dom shook her head, as if this might clear it. "You actually dressed up as a bloke! How in the world have you not given yourself away yet?"

"Hey!" I protested. "I'll have you know that I am very convincing! _You_ thought I was a bloke, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah," Dom rolled her eyes. "But, come on, Rosie! You can't just pack a fit and dress up as a bloke if you don't get your way!"

"Wow, thanks for the support, Dom."

"Shut up," Dom smacked me on the arm with a slight smile. "I think you're insane, but of course I won't tell anyone. I have to say, though," She laughed. "You do make one _pretty_ hot guy."

"Dom, as much as I love you, I have to politely turn down your invitation to 'show me a good time'," I told her, smiling back. "Incest is just not my thing, I'm afraid."

"Piss off!" Dom grinned. "Well … c'mon! Aren't you going to introduce me to all your gorgeous mates?"

Conclusion to slightly incestuous cousins and being a bloke: 

-It actually makes a nice change, getting another perspective about the world! I'd seriously recommend going male every now and then, if only just to find out what all the blokes are saying about you.

-I get the feeling that this is going to end up becoming one big inside joke between Dom and I; so long as she doesn't tell a soul.

-I _knew_ that Gerald still loved Ally! If he doesn't do something like he insisted he would, then Cesario will be having some _very_ serious words with him.

-This training course has _so_ been worth it.

Rose: 16, Scorpius: 16.

(See? Neck and neck, I'm so going to win this thing!).

* * *

A/N: This has to be the weirdest chapter title I've ever had in GIR World. If there was a different one that you think was weirder, I'd love to hear! Also, the quote 'sex is always the point' is direct from one of my own guy mates. Rose's thoughts were practically my own and I simply had to use it. I hope you enjoyed Rose pretending to be Cesario Weasley. :)

Thank you once more for your wonderful reviews and support. Let me know what you think!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	16. The Bloody One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, blood or disasters.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 15: The Bloody One.

The next morning, I woke up at six am with a slight headache and my cousin in bed with me.

"What the hell … Dom?" I groaned, rolling over to see dead-to-the-world Dom tangled up in the sheets next to me. She was still wearing her dress from the night before. Thank god it was her, of all people, considering I had dropped my Cesario-disguise the second I had thrown my pyjamas on. I shoved her on the arm and she almost fell off the bed.

"What … oh, shiiiiit," Dom moaned, rolling over so she wasn't in danger of face-planting. "Rosie? What time is it?"

"Six in the morning, I have to get ready for work!" I said, sitting up in confusion. "What the hell are you doing in _my_ bed? I swear you weren't here when I went to sleep!"

"Oh, yeah," Dom flopped onto her back as I ripped the duvet off me and, ignoring my pounding head, checked that the bathroom wasn't occupied so I could have a shower. "Went back with that Ben guy after the pub … got a bit clingy, though, so I ended up scarpering around three in the morning. I was still a bit drunk and couldn't find my own room, but managed to find yours, so I decided to just crash with you."

"It's ok, I don't mind at all," I told her, rolling my eyes as I gathered a towel and suitable male clothes for the day. "This is what you get when you go out on a bender, Dom."

"Eh, Ben was all right, but he wanted to _cuddle_," Dom made a face at me. "So gross. Last time I ever sleep with a Healer."

And with that wonderful insight to Dom's impression of the male race, I jumped into the shower before any more unsuspecting males could surprise me. I just left Dom where she was, knowing full well that she would fall back asleep in an instant. Sure enough, once I was dressed and again undercover as Cesario, it was to find her snoring so loudly, I was surprised that Gerald and Callum hadn't come running in to see who was being murdered.

"Get up!" I said, shoving my delightful cousin once more. "You have to serve us breakfast, remember?"

"Ehhhhhhgggg … you can all starve …"

"DOMINIQUE!"

"Oh, fine, fine," Dom complained, as I knew she would at the use of her full name. It was quite a mission to get her out of the hotel room without being seen by Gerald and Callum, since I really didn't want to cause any more incestuous rumours at the knowledge of realising that two cousins had spent the night together. I ended up distracting them with the sight of 'that, out there!' out the window while Dom darted out through the front door, carrying her shoes in her hands.

You seriously can't say you've lived until you've met a member of the Weasley family.

* * *

The course continued that last day, going through summaries of the emergency procedures we'd learnt for several different departments. I thought breakfast and lunch would be simply awkward with Dom still serving, after having flirted with (or slept with) at least half of the blokes here, but she was nothing if not professional; she continued to flirt with all those she hadn't gotten round to the previous day. If I haven't said it yet, love my cousin. We began the summary for emergency artefacts accidents after lunch, where we role-played the Knight Bus crashing, one half playing victims, the other half the Healers.

"Sir, can you hear me?!" was yelled several times and there was lots of complaining when we were forced to learn Muggle CPR procedures, which basically involved a lot of mouth-to-mouth action. I certainly didn't mind and unsurprisingly, neither did Jono, but it was clear that all the other blokes were rather uncomfortable with it.

"Why … we have to learn this?" one of the Belgian Healers had asked with a sour expression at the thought of touching his mouth with his mate's.

"Yes!" one of the fourth-year trainees agreed with him. "We know all the spells for clearing the throat and air passages, why do we need to know this?"

"Yeah, y'know," his friend added, currently playing a poor victim. "What with all the mouth touching …"

"Healer Peeters?" Healer Williams turned to his colleague. "Care to explain?"

Healer Peeters' English wasn't brilliant, but it was good enough for this. "Sometimes, you do not have your wand," he said. One of his colleagues from the Belgian hospital in Brussels translated into Belgian-Dutch for those Healers who couldn't keep up with the English. "Sometimes, you will be stuck and have to wait. It is good to know how to do things Muggle way."

"Exactly," Healer Williams agreed. "You never know when you'll be out of magical supplies and have to save someone's life! Learning CPR is essential if you want to be a Healer."

"It's _essential_ that I never go anywhere near Ben's mouth," Callum muttered. "Got _no_ idea where that's been." Several blokes from my trainee year cracked up laughing and I hastily avoid Dom's eye, but Healer Williams roared at us to shut up and keep practicing.

The day wasn't supposed to finish until five that evening, but we were halted at about one in the afternoon by the supervisor for trainees in Artefacts Accidents; otherwise known as Healer Hot Arse to the girls on our course, but officially Healer Hardy. He burst into the hotel conference room that was serving as our training room, covered in soot and apparently having just Flooed here, somehow connecting a Muggle hotel fireplace to St Mungo's. Everyone fell silent as he doubled over, gasping for breath.

"Sir!" he eventually cried. "We need you at the hospital!"

"Richard?" Healer Williams looked startled as the rest of the training Healers glanced at each other in confusion. Even the Dom and her caterers seemed to be listening in. "What's going on? We're back on duty tomorrow, you know that–"

"No, no! Sir, there's been an accident!" Healer Hot … er, Hardy gasped out. "One – one of the shops in Diagon Alley exploded, Sir! Hundreds of people have been hit, they're flocking in to the emergency department and half our staff is either here or on leave! People are _dying_, Sir, we _need_ you!"

Several low murmurs spread throughout our group, everyone getting up from the floor and looking nervous. Healer Williams didn't looked stunned, but then, he never does. Instead, he calmly turned to Healer Peeters and asked, "How would you and your boys like some hands-on training?"

Healer Peeters nodded with a grim expression. "We will help any way we can." he said, before turning to his trainees and explaining what had happened.

"Um, Sir?" I called out as Healer Williams started yelling orders for the trainees. Everyone practically fell over themselves in their haste to follow Healer Hardy to the fireplace to Floo back to St Mungo's ASAP. It was absolute chaos and I could barely keep up with him. "Sir! It seems that the course is over now and about the credit for it … Sir?!"

Healer Williams was hardly in the mood to hear me ramble, but like hell was I getting this fa, only to have a major catastrophe cheat me out of my credit! He sort of muttered, "Yes, yes, I'll make a note of it." waving a hand dismissively as he did so, so I'm not entirely sure if he even fully registered what I was saying. I mean, he _was_ half-running out the door by that point. Before I could even register what had happened, I was the last person to leave the conference room, glancing back and exchanging a look with Dom over with her catering staff.

"I can't even go," I told her. "I'm supposed to be in New Zealand!"

"Aw, just go home, Rosie," Dom told me, clapping a hand on my shoulder. "They've got twenty extra Healers to work on it; you not being there won't make a difference. Go home and get some rest, yeah? You've been working non-stop all week."

"Not _all_ week." I told her and Dom rolled her eyes.

"Work hard, play hard, that's my motto for life," she said, shrugging. "Go on! Here, take some sandwiches with you, I've got shit-loads of food left over."

Unsure about what I was supposed to say to Al if he showed up, I had no choice but to give Dom a giant hug before going home. I was thankful that he wasn't at the flat once I arrived, so I could get rid of my boy disguise in peace; no more Cesario Weasley, just good old Rosie! But I scowled when I saw the state of our poor flat. There was a _tonne_ of dust, my poor pot plant on the kitchen window sill was just a shrivelled lump and there was a pile of mail that I had to scrape past to open the door.

"God, I can see you've been looking after the place, Bea." I muttered to myself. Of course she had spent the entire time I was gone staying with Al. Honestly, I'm hardly gone a week and this is what happens!

I was thankful to be just plain woman again, with no hard concealment charm around my chest, whiskers tickling my face and my hair nice and long once more. But I had to admit that I sort of missed being Cesario Weasley. He had a lot better life than mine, that was for sure; a reliable job, a steady boyfriend and a crazy family he is only forced to see at Christmas. Rose Weasley had a job she could be fired from any day of the week, an ex-boyfriend who probably hated her and a crazy family who just wouldn't leave her alone.

Yes, I'd miss being Cesario.

I had just collapsed down onto the sofa, when the sound of the fellytone ringing made me jump. I almost considered not answering it, seeing as it was probably just Mrs Bowmen or worse, Queen Godzilla, wanting to finalise the colours of the drapes for Al and Bea's wedding. But then I realised that they probably would have realised by now that if they wanted to find Bea, they would have to call Al's flat. So I reluctantly hauled myself up to the kitchen to grab the 'phone' (as Mum tries to make us call it) off the stand.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hello, yes, can I speak to Rose Weasley if she happens to be there?"

"This is Rose." I said, rather confused, since I vaguely recognised that voice.

"Oh, thank god!" the woman cried. "I've sent a million owls, but – Rose, it's Catie Gardner, the receptionist from St Mungo's!"

"Catie?" I said, utterly confused now. Catie was a lovely woman in her fifties who had a perchance for hospital gossip, though I had no idea why she would be ringing me. "What is it? Why do you sound so …?"

"Oh, Rose, look I know you're currently on leave," Catie gabbled. "But we desperately need you here at the hospital! I don't know if you've heard – there's been a shop explosion at Diagon Alley and we're calling in everyone we can!"

"Oh, shit, yeah I heard," I said, amazed that they would still need me. "Hang on, what about the boys all on that training course? Can't they rope in the Belgian Healers?"

"They got here about an hour ago, but there's just not enough!" Catie cried. "Loads of our staff are on leave or are sick! I know you don't have to come in, but please Rose, we need everyone we can!"

"Catie, calm down!" I cried down the phone. "Breathe! Calm thoughts, think calm!"

I coached Catie through some breathing before she completely passed out on me. Down her end of the line, I could hear the sounds of pure chaos; children crying, people screaming and Healers yelling for stats and to make room. I heard one young woman scream, 'Help him! Oh my god!' It hurt to listen to and I could only imagine what Catie and the other two receptionists must be dealing with down there. "Catie, I need you to tell me all the details," I said quickly. "Can you do that? Like, what shop exploded, what damage is there, how many people, that sort of thing?"

"Yes, yes – it was a joke shop," Catie began and I swear my heart stopped. "I'm so sorry, I think it might have been Weasley's Wizards Wheezes – Rose?"

She wasn't going to get an answer. I had dropped the phone at 'joke shop', grabbed my Healer's robe and was out the door in ten seconds flat.

* * *

"Rose!" Margo practically cried with relief the second she saw me enter the hospital. The waiting room was packed to the brim with hysterical patients/victims and families of aforementioned patients/victims. Margo was currently attending to a little boy right there in the waiting room, wrapping a bandage around the boy's leg. "Thank the lord, they need people in emergency theatre!"

"Margo, I need you to tell me, was it Weasley's Wizards Wheezes that exploded?" I asked desperately, kneeling down next to her.

"Yeah, Owen can tell you." Margo answered me, nodding to the little boy, who was sitting on his mother's knee. I glanced up and his mother nodded, a large scratch across her forehead having been bandaged already.

"We were just leaving when it happened!" Owen said, probably about six years old. "It's my birthday and Mummy said she would buy me whatever I wanted!"

"Within reason," Owen's mother added. "He's right, we had just left when the entire shop suddenly seemed to burst apart! No idea what happened, but it was right in the middle of the day rush, so the place was packed."

I felt something lodge itself in my heart and it wouldn't go away, no matter what I told it. It made my vision shrink until I felt like I was going to faint. Margo's voice came from far away, asking if I was all right, but it didn't seem to matter. It took a long moment for me to realise that the cold feeling I had was _fear_. Uncle George practically lived in that shop; it was his life's work and after his brother died, he had apparently spent weeks holed up in there, making it ready to be re-opened in Fred Weasley's name. My cousin Fred, named after our dead uncle, sometimes helped out there on his days off. Bea had told me just a couple of weeks ago she thought she might find something in there for Al's birthday!

But this was no time to panic. People were hurt, people needed me and I had to pull myself together. I shook my head, snapping back to Margo and turning my heart off. She directed me off to the emergency department on the ground floor for artefacts accidents.

Considering the training we had just been doing, this all seemed so ironic. I passed a very distressed Catie at the receptionist's desk, trying to deal with several panicked family members, wanting to know what had happened to their loved ones. The other two receptionists weren't anywhere in sight and I found out why once I sprinted into the waiting room of the emergency department; Hannah and Evie, both in their forties, were helping the Healers do their jobs by carrying bandages, making room, helping lift victims onto stretchers so they could be transported and even helping stop the flow of blood.

That was another thing that frightened me; the blood. I'm not squeamish in any sense, pretty obviously since I Healed people for a living, but even this was getting to be too much; it was like a battle zone. Everywhere I looked, someone had some sort of injury, whether it was the old man in the corner holding his now-red shirt to a wound on the side of his head, or the twelve-year-old girl crying with her equally beaten friends, clutching at a broken leg. Every single chair was taken, every space on the floor was occupied and I had to manoeuvre between people to even reach the Healer's station just before the doors to the actual main department.

"Healer Weasley, thank god!" our supervisor, Healer Hardy, cried. "They called you in?"

"Yes – what in god's name happened?!" I said.

"Shop explosion, no time for any other details!" he said, shoving a clipboard of charts at me. "See to these patients, they could be anywhere! If they can move without screaming, then we're discharging, there's just not enough beds and people are still flooding in!"

I couldn't see how, since it felt like the entre wizarding population was already here at the hospital, but I asked what the main damage was, anyway. "The explosion happened inside the shop at the back, from what I can tell," Healer Hardy said hurriedly, practically ripping several files out of the way so he could locate more patient charts and stick them to another clipboard. "This lot are just those who got hit from the outside! The neighbouring shops caught on fire thanks to the blast, so it's horrendous up in burns as well! But the explosion apparently caused the roof to cave in or something, I don't bloody know, basically there's more coming," He shot me an almost crazed look. "And they'll probably be the worst hit. We've already had several die on us."

I didn't stick around to find out anymore. I set to work immediately, trying to calm the patients I tended to, patching up wounds and sealing cuts. I almost cried along with the young girl and her friends as I had to re-set her broken leg. Everywhere I looked, I saw other Healers looking just as harried as me. Patients just seemed to blur as the list on my clipboard was never ending and even when it did seem to get near the bottom, a Healer would come and snap some more on.

Emergency cases were run through almost constantly, which was why the waiting rooms had become temporary Healing rooms. At one point, a teenaged boy was rushed in with intense bleeding, since a piece of glass from the front displays of the joke shop had lodged into his chest. I was called over to help move him, but by the time he was on an operating table in the main department, he was already dead.

My first real shock was when I saw James stagger into the hospital. Having just finished healing a woman's twisted ankle from tripping into the gutter during the explosion, I had glanced up to see James Potter limping in, his arm around the waist of Libby, of all people. Libby barely looked conscious, a gash just at her hairline staining her face red and James appeared to have bruises over every inch of this body.

"Holy – oh my god!" I practically shrieked, running to their sides immediately. "James! Libby! Are you all right? Tell me you're not dying! AMY!" I screamed for a third-year trainee who had been helping me tend to patients in the main waiting room. "Get a stretcher, _anything_!"

"We've run out, Rose!" Amy cried as I helped James in carrying Libby to the nearest unoccupied space on the floor.

"Then help me!" I yelled back. As Amy scampered over, she was forced to make way as another load of seriously injured patients were rushed in by Healers and mediwizards who were working on-site. James was rambling uselessly, collapsing on Libby's other side as I went through the first immediate checks.

_Airway clear … currently breathing_ … I thought, remembering the training I had just done. "Libby, it's me, Rose, can you hear me?" I asked, amazed at how calm my voice was.

James, on the other hand, was practically hysteric. "I had no idea how powerful it was!" he was moaning. "The idiot pushed me! Oh, hell, is she going to be all right? Rosie, I'm so sorry–!"

"James, shut up!" I burst out. "She's been hit hard with something that's made her body shut down. I don't even know if it was magical. She needs immediate attention, or her brain could stop working," I glanced up. "James, I don't care if you had something to do with this, though trust me, I will once all this is over. For now, I need you to talk to Amy here and tell her everything you know while I heal Libby. Can you do that?"

Looking ashen, James nodded. I'd never seen my cousin like this; so serious and bashed up. James was the life and soul of any party, never grave, but fun and lively to the point of being annoying. It scared me and despite my potential anger at him, I quickly leaned over to kiss him on the cheek before waving my wand at Libby's now completely unconscious body and levitating her as quickly and carefully as I could to where I could get my hands on a blood-clotting potion.

I wanted to stay and make sure Libby would be ok, but I was forced to hand her over to several second-year trainees as more serious injuries came in. It was looking like we were getting to the depths of those trapped inside the destroyed shop, but our job was far from over. I finally saw my Uncle George, being levitated into the waiting room by a Healer, looking shaken and covered in black soot, but sitting up straight and obviously conscious.

"Uncle George!" I cried, practically throwing myself at him so hard, I nearly knocked him out of the air.

"Rosie, darling!" he said, hugging me back as the Healer set him down carefully in a thankfully empty chair. "Thought you would be working. Don't you worry about me, I'm fine–"

"But you had to be lifted in!" To my horror, I found tears welling in my eyes and I quickly tried to wipe them on my robe sleeve. "I thought–"

"I know, but it's fine," He pulled me back and gave me a grin. "James and Fred get here? I lost them after they got out …"

"I saw James, he brought in my friend Libby, but I haven't seen Fred," I admitted. That made Uncle George lose his smile slightly, but I refused to acknowledge it.

"Ah, I don't know what I'm going to do with those two," Uncle George told me. "Don't know what on earth they did, probably trying to impress some girls again! Just next thing I knew, the entire place was on fire! The only reason I'm not more hurt is because I managed to hide under the front counter!"

"Uncle George, I'm glad you're ok," I said, honestly. "But I'm going to _murder_ your son, I'm afraid."

"George!"

That was when a majority of my family showed up, Auntie Angelina being the first to rock on up. Roxanne wasn't far behind and pretty soon, we breathed a sigh of relief when Fred was finally carted in. He appeared to have broken both his legs, but he was laughing, so I figured he couldn't be _that_ hurt.

As much as I wanted to stay with my family, I had a job to do and Amy the trainee was calling for me from the waiting room of the accidents department. They were having difficulty releasing the pressure in Libby's head and they needed me to help save my friend. While she wasn't critical, there was no telling what could happen within the next fifteen minutes or so, so with my chest pounding like I still had a concealment charm on me, I sprinted over to help.

The flood of people seemed never-ending, even now as the most critical injuries had managed to be freed from the apparently burning shop and were brought in. Unfortunately, since they had been trapped for so long, several didn't make it, despite our desperate attempts to save their lives.

At one point, I found myself working alongside Lucy Harley, trying to stem the flow of blood from a man who had been trapped under a collapsed shelf in the shop. Just for those few moments while we tried to save his life, I realised that the two of us were working together for a change, not bitching at each other or making jabs like usual. It was clear that Harley had had a long day; there were dark circles around her eyes and she screamed, "COME ON!" when none of our spells worked. She tried to keep going, even after the man died and I ended up forcing her away, throwing an arm around her and hauling her to me as she started to cry.

"C'mon, Harley, pull it together," I had muttered into her hair as she sobbed into my chest. "These people need us, you can do it …"

Eventually, she had got it under control and we'd simply gone back to work, barely even acknowledging our exchange. I sort of understood why Scorpius was friends with her; she was fiercely protective and I got the feeling that she would do anything for a friend. Every time I caught the eye of one of my mates, we would exchange encouraging smiles, because everyone just needed it; Jono held a young crying girl who had to have stiches, Bethany was helping in the process of being forced to amputate someone's foot and I was even nice to several of the vultures. I knew Gerald wasn't down here on the ground floor, but was up working in the emergency burns department, Healing those who were mainly caught in the fires. I could have done with his calming presence down here, but I was glad that he didn't have to handle this mayhem.

The one person I didn't see working was Ally and at first, I had just assumed it was because she had the day off and couldn't come in. However, it became dreadfully apparent as to why she wasn't working when she was wheeled in with the last dregs of injuries.

"Ally?!" I cried, upon seeing her unconscious body on the stretcher. Two full-Healers ran with her though the accidents waiting room and straight into the proper emergency department. Between patients, I ran after them, along with several others from our training year, shocked to see our Ally's face on the latest victim.

"Over here!" our worn-down and harried Healer Williams barked, pointing out a bench alongside the back wall next to the supplies, since all the cubicles were occupied and there wasn't enough room in the theatre. "One of our own, right?"

"Alison Carter, 24 years old with normal usual health, Sir!" Sarah was already pointing her wand at Ally's head and taking her stats. "According to some others who made it out, she was hit by debris when the back wall collapsed, knocked her unconscious so she couldn't make any attempts to move!"

"What the hell was she even doing there?!" I cried, sticking my wand between my teeth so I could help lift her off the stretcher and onto the supply bench. Usually the bench was covered in stuff, but had now been cleared and had a smear of blood from its last patient.

"Doesn't matter, she was there, Healer Weasley!" Healer Williams ground out, shooting me a glare. "Are you going to be a hindrance? Because if so, you can leave my department right now and go home!"

I shut up at that point, insisting that I would get the story later. Because of course Ally was going to wake up and tell me. While Ally was a good friend to me, it had never really registered how much I valued her presence in my life. She was so shy, such a contrast to the rest of my family, that she was an amazing different perspective on the world. Her occasional jokes would have me splitting my sides with laughter. She was an incredible person and she deserved my every bit of concentration.

Luckily for us, someone had managed to pull Ally out just in time for any major damage to occur. It took a lot more time than I would have liked, but eventually she was stable. Healer Williams was then called off for another emergency case, so he trusted Sarah and I to make sure Ally would be safe until she could be discharged.

Ally gave a groggy groan, just as Sarah had to go and help move a recovering patient to a ward somewhere where there was still room. "Ally!" I said, stroking back her brown hair. "It's Rose, can you hear me?"

"R-Rose …" Ally's voice was croaky, but she opened her eyes and stared up at me in confusion. "What happened? I … I was at your uncle's shop, I wanted … something …"

"Explosion," I explained. "We're still sketchy on the details, like how exactly it happened, but I have a shrewd feeling that my cousins had something to do with it. Good god, never do that again! You scared the shit out of me!"

"I'm sorry, Rosie … did you heal me?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you."

I just smiled grimly at her. "You're welcome."

I levitated Ally back out into the accidents waiting room so some of the first-year trainees could assign her to a ward to recover. I had to hand it to those first-years; this was a lot to handle, even for the fifth-years. I couldn't imagine going through something like this in my first year of training. A young girl, clearly fresh out of Hogwarts, assured me that she would look after Ally and I turned around, only to see Al and Bea standing about six feet away.

"Oh, my god, Al!" I cried. "Bea! What're you–?" I didn't even finished my question, just launched myself at them, throwing my arms around both their necks. When I pulled away and quickly assessed them – standing upright, moving and conscious, no visible damage, probably ok – I was confused since Bea had tears streaming down her face and Al had gone completely white, his arm tightly around his fiancée's shoulders.

"What?" I said at once.

"Rose …" Al said, since Bea didn't look like she could talk. "I can't – you should just go back in there …"

I glanced between the two of them, that small hole of fear in my heart suddenly expanding despite my attempts to shut it down. Just one look was enough to spark my suspicions. I hugged them one last time quickly, kissing each of them on the cheek, before tearing back into the emergency department. Sure enough, I recognised the patient that Healer Williams had left Sarah and I to attend to himself. It was clear even from here that it was serious and I would know that mop of blond hair anywhere or tatty hand-knitted jumper (mainly because it had been mine before he stole it).

It was Scorpius.

Conclusion to my cousin Cesario Weasley and probably one the bloodiest days in St Mungo's history: 

-My mind couldn't really comprehend what it was seeing. For a few seconds, I think it tried to block it out, so I could actually focus on what was going on.

-I really could have used Cesario right about now; I'm sure he would be a hell of a lot calmer than I am.

Rose: 16, Scorpius: 17.

(Even while dying, he still manages to one-up me).

* * *

A/N: Um, yeah. This didn't seem half as dramatic in my head, but when I actually wrote it ... please, don't worry too much, there's half a story to go yet!

Also, by the time the next chapter comes out, I will have turned 21 years old! This just really strikes me as funny, since I was 16 when I started GIR and turned 17 halfway through posting. Now, it's like I've come in a full circle! To those who can remember me turning 17, thank you for sticking around. :)

I'm sorry for the insane ending, but thank you so much for all your reviews so far! You're all amazing and please, keep telling me what you think! I need to know how I'm doing.

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	17. The Terrified One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, blood or disasters.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 16: The Terrified One.

Something snapped inside me the second I saw Scorpius being lifted onto the nearest unoccupied bed. I figured right then and there that I was _not _leaving this room until I knew he was going to be ok. Completely forgetting whatever else I was meant to be doing, I ran over, my vision tunnelling down to just him. The chaos of everyone else was now just background noise. It didn't matter.

Only Scorpius mattered.

"… the hell is he?" Healer Williams was muttering to himself, trailing his wand up and down Scorpius's unconscious body. They had already ripped through the jumper so they could access the wound on his side. "Need to know …"

"His name is Scorpius Malfoy," I said at once, quite impressed at how steady my voice was. "He's 22 years old and only relevant health history is an allergy to strawberries."

Healer Williams glanced up, working alongside my friend, Margo Death. Normally Margo's last name amused all of us – _Healer Death_ – but now it sort of terrified me. "Healer Weasley," Healer Williams sounded almost exasperated. "If you're going to–"

"I can help on this one!" I insisted. "Trust me, I know his previous health history! I have to save him!"

Healer Williams eyed me for one more second before snapping, "Get me a blood-replenishing potion."

Time was meaningless as we worked. Since Scorpius had been rescued by on-site workers from the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, we didn't have any information on what had happened to him, apart from 'blunt force to the abdomen by projectiles and possible smoke inhalation'. He'd been pretty much run through with something, that much was clear, since I was sure that his t-shirt and the tops of his jeans were going to be permanently stained red from this. Healer Williams instructed me to administer the blood-replenishing potion as Margo trailed her wand up Scorpius's legs, muttering under her breath and I knew that she was using magic to remove any traces of debris that might have lodged inside him and got stuck.

Healer Williams worked on the wound in his side as he snapped at me to keep a steady record of his heartbeat. Every time I heard the _thump-thump_, my wand lightly touching the pulse at his neck, my own heart beat a sigh of relief.

At one point, Margo found a large splinter of wood that was stuck and Healer Williams swore. Ignoring the panic threatening to spill over, I was forced to administer more potion to make up for the blood he was losing as Healer Williams had to locate and remove the splinter before he could heal Scorpius's stab wound. Scorpius's face was deathly pale and I placed a hand on his cheek.

"C'mon, Scorpius, fight it …" I hissed at him in between muttering spells to maintain the record of his now very shaky breathing. Margo gave a frustrated yell and Healer Williams shouted for Hannah the receptionist to bring him something I didn't care about. All I focussed on was Scorpius's currently lifeless face and I suddenly got angry. "I mean it, if you don't wake up, your life will be hell! I will be a tirade of Rosie madness! If you die, I'll … I'll …" I faltered. What the hell _would_ I do if he died? But that wasn't going to happen. "If you die, I'll never _ever_ forgive you, so _fight it_!"

"Healer Williams, I see it!" Margo cried and I looked up in desperation. "But I can't … damn, Healer Weasley, can you help me? I think it's stuck …"

Keeping my wand at his neck to make sure I could still hear his heart beating, I held my other hand around Margo's on her own wand, adding my strength to levitate the large splinter out from Scorpius's body. "Yes!" Margo cried in triumph as Healer Williams went crazy with suturing spells, knitting skin and a sliced organs back together. But Scorpius's heartbeat was still erratic and Margo ended up saying, "Healer Williams, he's under a lot of pressure–"

"I know, Healer Death!" Healer Williams yelled back. "He's under control–!"

But just then, right when it seemed like Healer Williams had nearly finished putting Scorpius back together, something suddenly wasn't there anymore. There was a moment in which I couldn't tell what was wrong. When it finally clicked, fear swept through me like a frost, freezing absolutely everything.

"Healer Williams, his heart-rate's stopped!" I cried, the beating suddenly no longer consistent to my ears. Healer Williams cursed as Margo screamed at someone help.

"I can see that!" Healer Williams barked. "His heart gave out, too much to handle; what are you going to do about it, Healer Weasley?"

I stared at him in amazement. He was going to use _this_ as a bloody _lesson_?! I very nearly leapt across Scorpius's body and scratched his eyes out, but I figured that that wouldn't be very productive, so I forced my brain to frantically shift through the thousands of spells that I knew. Suddenly, one sprang to mind; a spell that stimulated the heart, one that I had read before, but had only first put into practice during the training course with the Belgian Healers. I wasn't supposed to know how to do it, but it was the only thing I could think of. I pointed my wand directly over Scorpius's heart and cried, "_Viscus initium_!"

I knew how powerful it was; during the training, a Belgian Healer had been messing around with Timothy from our year and had joked that he should practice on him. Timothy hadn't realised that the result of casting the spell on a fully conscious person would blast them backwards across the room and straight into Dom's catering table. Far from deterring the Belgian Healer from attempting such madness again, he had jumped up laughing and slapped a high-five with Timothy, despite his hair being on end and his hand shaking badly. Yes, boys are deranged, no matter what country they're from.

In Scorpius, it had the effect I was going for. Essentially a jump-start to the heart, it was as if I was kicking him out of bed and yelling, "Oi! Wake up! Time for a new day!" His heart-beat suddenly started again in full fire and I swear I nearly cried with relief.

Healer Williams gave a satisfied smile. "Well done, Healer Weasley," he said as Margo threw her arms around me. "You just saved a man's life."

* * *

"Rose?"

I woke with a start, the quietness of the ward pressing down on me. For one terrifying moment, I thought that everyone had died and that was why it was so silent. But then I remembered that it was probably about five in the morning and the initial chaos of the shop explosion was over for now. Scorpius had been admitted to a ward somewhere on the first floor; not exactly fitting with his injuries, but they had run out of beds on the ground floor. While still unconscious when he was admitted, I had been reassured by placing my wand against his throat and hearing his heart beat throughout the room. Al and Bea had been so relieved when I could go back out into the waiting room and tell them that Scorpius would be ok and they stayed with him until I could finally clock off duty around midnight. They normally would have been sent home when visiting hours ended, but all standard rules had gone out the window thanks to the accident.

There were several other patients here with us, all of them snoring and I realised that I had also fallen asleep, slumped over in my chair next to Scorpius's bed, my head resting on the mattress and my fingers entwined with his. His voice made me leap a mile and I sat bolt up-right, blinking rapidly and realising where I was.

"Scorpius!" I said. I noticed I was still holding his hand and I quickly let go, trying to not make my awkward expression so obvious. "Thank god, you're awake!"

"What the bloody hell happened?" he muttered, struggling and failing to haul himself upright so he could see me better. Eventually he gave up and flopped back onto his pillows. "I feel like I've been run down by the Knight Bus …"

"Actually, you were impaled by a sharp piece of wood," I corrected him, still in darkness, since I didn't want any conjured light to wake up the other patients. "Please tell me, what the hell were you doing at my uncle's joke shop yesterday?"

"Yesterday …?" Scorpius looked incredibly confused. "Wait – ohhhh … shit … there was an explosion," He winced. "I needed a new quill, I think. Don't tell me, it couldn't be rescued?"

"Shut up, why couldn't you just go to a _normal_ stationery shop?!" I hissed at him. "Why a _joke shop_ of all places?"

"I like the quills that taste like bubble-gum," Scorpius protested. When he managed a glance around the room, he said, "I guess it was a bit bigger than your typical explosion?"

"It was chaos," I said, quietly. "I … I was even called in from New Zealand," I didn't like lying, but it would have to be my cover and even Scorpius would have to be told it. "LL says hi, by the way."

"Hi. Oh, hell …" Scorpius groaned. "I just remember there being a huge bang and the shelf was blasted back. I managed to dive out of the way, but then the wall collapsed …"

I was silent for a few moments, just watching his face. He was still pale, but not so much that I wanted to force-feed him more blood-replenishing potions. Well, not right this second at any rate. When Scorpius turned his head to face me, I got a flash of his lifeless body on that hospital bed and I found myself blurting out,

"Your heart stopped!"

His eyes went wide. "What?!" he almost yelped, causing the patient next to him to stir.

"Shush! Look, I'm sorry," I muttered. "I shouldn't have told you like that. I … well, when you came in I was busy healing a friend, so I didn't realise until I saw Al and Bea. The second I saw you …" I couldn't look him in the eye or I'd start bawling. I took a deep breath. "I helped heal you. There was a splinter of wood stuck inside you and we managed to get it out, but it became too much for your body to handle and your heart sort of gave up. I … for a second, I thought it was all over, but I managed to get your heart going again."

Scorpius seemed to have to take several moments to process this. When he looked fit to handle it, he said softly, "… you saved my life?"

"Erm," I said, awkwardly. "Yeah, I suppose I did."

He let out a long breath. "Thank you."

"It was my _job_, Scorpius." I almost punched him on the shoulder – what can I say, it's a habit – but I stopped myself at the last second.

"What about others?" Scorpius asked me. "I know there were other people we knew there, are they ok?"

"My uncle was ok mainly because he could hide in time," I admitted. "Fred broke both his legs, but to be honest I think he deserves that. James got out reasonably unscathed, but for some reason Libby was there, too and she almost went critical. She's fine now, but will probably have a bit of a concussion. My friend, Ally …" I remembered that moment of wondering if she would be ok. "I think you met her once, she's a trainee Healer, too. She took a while, but I'm fairly certain she'll be ok."

"Did you heal _everyone_ we know?" Scorpius managed to roll his eyes. Still with the teasing, even after nearly dying. I very nearly laughed.

"I got called in around two this afternoon," I explained. "Finally clocked off at midnight, but there's even some Healers still going."

"You should go home, Rose," Scorpius told me and I straightened. He wanted me to leave? "I mean it, _you_ look like you've been run down by the Knight Bus after getting the soul sucked out of you by a Dementor."

"Cheers."

"I'm serious," Scorpius insisted. "I'm absolutely fine now, you can come back tomorrow if you must."

"You don't get it, do you?" I scoffed, leaning forward again, resting my arms on his mattress. "We might not be together anymore, but I still _care_. Those moments when you were on that bed, your heart not beating …" I choked down tears. "They were the most terrifying moments of my _life_."

"Rose …" Scorpius said, closing his eyes.

"It's fine," I said, shortly. "You're ok now and that's all that matters. Go to sleep. I'm not leaving."

* * *

My leave pretty much officially ended the next day. I woke up around seven in the morning, still in the chair next to Scorpius's bed. He was dead to the world, for the want of a better analogy that didn't remind me of his near-death experience yesterday, so I took that to mean he would be ok if I left for a bit. I Apparated home so I could have a shower, wash the blood stains off my skin and get something to eat before heading back to work.

Just as I was blasting hot air out of my wand, directing it towards my hair and quickly rummaging through our cupboards for a hasty breakfast, Bea came home. I hurried back into the lounge to see her shutting the door and looking like she had gotten absolutely no sleep at all. Without saying anything, we both moved forward and I crushed her in a hug.

"How are you?" I asked her after several moments, pulling away so I could see her face.

"Tired," she answered with a smile. "Though I'm betting I'm not as tired as you; did you even come home last night?"

"I stayed at St Mungo's with Scorpius," I admitted. "I would have stayed longer, but he was out like a light and I _really_ needed a shower. What about you and Al?" I added, noticing her weary look. "Are you two ok?"

"I think so," Bea said and I collapsed with her onto the sofa. "I couldn't really sleep and I don't think Al got much either. How's Scorpius?"

"Absolutely fine," I assured her. "I was just going to grab something to eat, then head back and help out. I'm still technically on leave, but I'm pretty sure that's been blasted to hell now."

"How did you find out?" Bea asked. "Wouldn't you have been on the course?"

"One of our Healer supervisors came to tell us, yeah," I said. "I had no choice but to go home, but pretty soon I got called in by one of the receptionists. You?"

"Heard it on the bloody wireless!" Bea said. "I was at work and all! In the middle of writing my article when I heard that there had been an accident at Diagon Alley! Didn't really think anything of it until Al rocked on up out of the blue and told me that he couldn't get hold of Scorpius. He was worried, because Scorpius had said he was going in to pick up a few things," She let out a shaky breath. "You should see it, Rosie, the entire shop's gone, along with several others on either side."

"How long was he trapped?" I asked, almost not wanting to know. Bea shrugged, but answered,

"The entire time we were standing outside, waiting for someone to get him out at least, and that was probably half an hour," She gave me a sympathetic look. "But it's ok now! He's alive and fine, right?"

"He wasn't yesterday," I admitted. To my horror, all the worries, all the tears I had been forcing back came flooding up and despite my attempts to get rid of them, they spilled out over my face. "Holy shit, Bea! He nearly – nearly _died_! His – his heart stopped and – and –"

Bea just pulled me to her and I hugged her tightly around the neck as I sobbed. I couldn't help it; it had just hit me that I'd nearly _lost_ him. Scorpius Malfoy, the bloke I couldn't stand and the bloke I'd basically been in love with since we'd met. Every time I let my mind wander, it went back to that moment and the sheer terror of hearing his heart-beat disappearing. Bea just muttered soothing words into my ear and I clung to her.

Eventually, I pulled it together long enough to wipe away the tears. I moved back and gave her a weak smile. "I'm so sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to cry all over you."

"I don't care, Rosie," Bea insisted, pulling her wand out of her pocket so she could summon some tissues over to us. She offered them to me and I took one, gratefully. "You're not seriously going back to work like this?"

"I have to, they need me!" I said. "We were understaffed at it is and the Belgian Healers will be going home soon, they'll need every pair of hands that they've got! Visiting hours starts at eleven, so you and Al can come back and visit Scorpius then. Does his dad know what's happened?"

"No idea," Bea told me. "I didn't see him yesterday."

Great, yet another emotionally straining task for the day.

"That's fine, I'll tell him," I said. "Right!" I got up from the sofa and offered a hand to pull Bea up. "I swear, I'll be home before five tonight! Possibly …"

I could have simply sent a message to Draco Malfoy; Merlin knows that that was probably the safer option, considering that the man had never really liked me. I'm also guessing that his hatred had only increased once he heard that I broke up with his only son, but I felt like he deserved to be told face-to-face. If I die thanks to my moralistic nature, I'm going to be _so_ pissed off.

"What do _you_ want?" Draco Malfoy practically spat out the second the door was open and he noticed who was standing there.

"Nice to see you, too," I said, sarcastically. "I'm only here to tell you that your son's at St Mungo's, but never mind! I'll just bugger off then, shall I?"

"Hold it!" Mr Malfoy grabbed me by the arm and dragged me back to his front door, as I had turned to leave. After saying, "Stay!" like I was a dog or something, he disappeared into his house for a few moments, only to return with a jacket and slamming the door shut, locking it behind him with his wand. "Right," he said, storming off down the drive. "My fireplace is being updated at the moment and can't be used for Floo. Apparition point's up here. You can explain on the way."

Bewildered at this turn around, I hastily explained everything, from when I was called into the hospital, right until I woke up this morning. "… he was sleeping when I woke up, but I thought you should know," I told him as we left the wards around his manor house. Glancing back up at it, I thought that the house looked empty and sad without Astoria and it seemed Mr Malfoy thought so too, judging by his expression. "I can show you to his room when we get there."

"Ah, Weas – I mean Rose," Mr Malfoy sighed through gritted teeth. It looked like the next words he was trying to get out were physically painful. "I have to say … _thank you_. I know neither of us are exactly _fond_ of each other and trust me, I have a few choice words to say to you about breaking my son's heart, but …" To my amazement, he gave me a look that could have almost been grateful. "You saved Scorpius's life. I'll always owe you."

* * *

Sure enough, I spent the entire day working. Every single Healer was going flat-out, discharging patients so people wouldn't be forced to sleep in the hallways. We had run out of beds very quickly and there were a lot of make-shift ones, transfigured from odd objects or else summoned from homes. One old lady, who had unfortunately been walking by at the wrong time and got hit with a shard of glass, was currently dozing on a bed transfigured from a shoe. It didn't look very comfortable, but she was stable enough, so I moved on.

I spoke to Catie, Hannah and Evie at reception after I took Mr Malfoy to Scorpius's room. He was quick to nominate himself as Scorpius's support person who could stay with him, even outside visiting hours, so I went down to report this to reception to find the three ladies in a flurry.

"You lot all right?" I asked, hastily ducking a stray folder that was flying through the air.

"Oh, Rosie, dear!" Catie cried. "You don't happen to know where Trelise Fox is staying, do you?!"

"The name rings a bell, but so do a lot of names, I'm sorry!" I said, nearly getting bowled over by a load of files being whisked through the air by Hannah, the stout lady muttering under her breath and changing the files' locations every few seconds. "I just have to report a support person for Scorpius Malfoy, his father's staying with him–"

"Oh, yes, of course," Catie ducked under Hannah's outstretched arm as Evie dealt with a rather hysterical mother, demanding to know where her daughter was. "Thanks," she added once she reached me. "Are things just as crazy in the wards?"

"Insanely," I said. "What the hell is going on down here?"

"Everything!" Catie cried, dramatically. "We're up to our necks in patient files and there's no bloody order to where patients have been admitted, so we've been running around, trying to make some sort of order to this mess and _then_ we have family and friends coming in and wanting to know where their loved ones are and we can't even tell them, because _we_ don't even have a clue where they are–!" Catie cut herself off, taking a deep breath. "Calm, calm …" she muttered.

"Look, I'll talk to Healer Williams, get him to send a Healer down here to help you sort out this chaos." I told her.

"Oh, no, dear!" Catie insisted, fondly patting me on the cheek. "You're sweet, but you can't afford to send someone to us. We'll manage, won't we ladies?"

"_Where the hell was Tyson Jenkins staying_?" Hannah was saying to herself.

"I'm very sorry ma'am!" Evie was assuring the poor woman behind the desk. "I swear, I'll get onto it straight away and find out where your daughter is–! AH!" she cried out as Hannah's folders were sent flying a little bit out of control and they swarmed her desk, bashing her over the head as they tried to find a good spot to be filed.

"Er, well," Catie turned back to me with a grimace. "It might take a while, but I'm sure we can manage!"

I could only take her word for it, since I was then yelled at by Healer O'Satan to help her tend to some of her burns patients. I wished Catie luck and reluctantly followed Healer O'Satan up the stairs to the first floor.

My current scheduled cycle was supposed to be up on creature-induced injuries, but a lot of our schedules had been thrown out thanks to the shop explosion. Along the way I saw several others working in the wrong areas, but no one was complaining. At one point I noticed Harley working in one of the burns wards and we exchanged simple nods. Buggering Merlin, I think we're actually learning how to be civilised! If only I could apply that to Healer O'Satan as well. She really was the antichrist, working me to the bone as I helped her repair skin and reduce scarring from the more serious burns.

By the time she let me go for a break, it was after midday and I was just considering finding a nice storage cupboard somewhere to have a kip in, when I met Gerald in the hallway.

"Rosie!" he cried, throwing his arms around me. "Thought you would still be overseas! They called you in?"

"Managed to track me down," I lied through my teeth once again. "Thank god for magic, or it would have taken me forever to get back. I take it you've been up here this whole time?"

"I'm seriously about to crack, Rosie," Once I pulled back and gave him a good once over, I realised that Gerald did indeed look like a walking zombie. "I was just finishing my shift when the accident happened and people started flooding in. Didn't get off until eleven at night and I was so tired, I just fell asleep in the staff room," He rolled his eyes. "I woke up around five and couldn't get back to sleep, so I just went back to work. Been going ever since."

"Hell, Gerald," I took him firmly by the arm and practically marched him to the stairs, heading for the staff room. "You're going to collapse of exhaustion if you're not careful! Thank god you weren't the one healing Ally, or you never would have left!"

Gerald stopped dead in the middle of the stairs, making me stumble. When I glanced back in confusion, it was to see that Gerald's face had gone completely white. "H-Heal Ally?" he stammered. "Why did you have to heal Ally? What happened?!"

"Nothing!" I said hastily, realising my mistake; having worked up on the first floor the whole day, he must have had no idea that Ally had been caught in the cross-fire. "I mean, well … don't freak out, but she was in the shop when the explosion happened and–"

He didn't even wait to hear the rest. Gerald's face just went paler and he started leaping down the stairs two or three at a time. Even with my long legs, it was hard for me to keep up. At the bottom, he skidded out onto the ground floor, bursting through the stair doors and into the still crowded waiting room with a bang. "Where is she?!" he demanded.

"In the Giselle Weinberg ward, but honestly, she's–" Again, Gerald was off, practically sprinting through the crowd of patients and crashing through the doors on the left that led through to the ward hallways. I ran after him, yelling that Ally was ok, but he didn't seem to believe me. The Giselle Weinberg ward was about halfway down the first hallway on the left and he burst through the doors before I had even had a chance to catch up.

By the time I slammed through after Gerald, it was to see him practically abusing the poor Healer in charge. "Where is she?!" he was yelling and I called for him to shut up. The ward was basically square shaped, several extra beds having been stuck in where there was room. Several recovering patients were waking up, glancing over in confusion, some with interest. I noticed that Ally had also woken up, her bed at the back of the room.

"Gerald, stop screaming bloody murder! She's over there!" I cried, pointing with an arm. "Sorry about this," I added hastily to the Healer in charge, who just snorted, 'trainee' and bustled on with her job. "_Gerald_!" I added, since he had gone barrelling down the length of the room the second he'd locked eyes with Ally, nearly knocking over a patient probably getting up to go to the bathroom.

"Gerald–? What–?" It was no wonder Ally was looking surprised as she warily pushed herself upright. She had just been woken up to have the bloke who had basically ignored her for two years more or less throwing himself at her. I knew that she'd practically given up on Gerald, but my friend was certainly proving his worth now, throwing himself down onto the bed next to her.

"Holy shit, Ally!" he cried, taking one of her hands in both of his and interlocking their fingers. "Are you ok? Tell me you're ok! Rose wouldn't say anything other than you were down here!"

"Yeah, that's because you ran off and refused to listen to reason …" I muttered to myself, apologising hastily to the other patients who had been woken by Gerald's yelling.

"I – I'm fine," Ally said, slightly breathless. Her face had gone bright red and her brown hair was like a rats nest, but Gerald didn't seem to care. He just pushed her hair back with a hand not still holding onto Ally's. Somehow, he still managed to express an almost desperate need to see her face, despite the gentle stroke with which his hands moved. "Rosie healed me. I'm fine."

"God, Ally …" Gerald didn't move his hand from the back of her head, just moved towards her so that their foreheads were touching, his eyes closed. "I don't think I've been more terrified in my life …"

"… why?" Ally said, softly.

I almost felt like I shouldn't be watching, but hell, everyone else in the ward was. Even the stuffy old Healer in charge was peering with interest around her patient's privacy curtain. Gerald pulled back slightly so he could look Ally in the eye. "Because," he said, determinedly. "I'm in love with you, that's why!"

Then he used the hand behind Ally's head to kiss her fiercely in front of absolutely everyone. I practically cheered at the sight and after a few moments, I realised that basically the entire ward was clapping and cheering with me, some cat-calling and others laughing. Gerald and Ally ignored them all, Gerald letting go of his other hand and thrusting it into Ally's hair as well, hauling her closer.

"Miss," the old lady in the bed next to Ally's tugged on my sleeve and I glanced down at her. Despite the tight bandages around her chest, she was smiling. "Am I to understand that this young couple have found love at last?"

"Yeah," I said, grinning despite the emotional train wreck that had been the last two days. "They finally got it right."

Conclusion to saving Scorpius's life, inadvertently saving Gerald and Ally's love life and being absolutely terrified: 

-Some things are going to try and have their way with you, but Gerald and Ally are proof that you can find anything good out of a horrible situation.

-That moment where Scorpius's heart stopped will forever be burned into my memory. I don't think I'll ever forget the sheer terror it brought.

-I swear, James and Fred are going to get the bollocking of their lives once I hunt them down.

Rose: 17, Scorpius: 17, Gerald and Ally: 1.

(I saved his life. We're even again).

* * *

A/N: Rejoice! This was always how Gerald and Ally were going to get together. Nothing short of an explosion was going to do it. And Rose and Scorpius are somewhat talking again! Miracles all around.

Thank you for the birthday wishes, I had an awesome day and your reviews have been absolutely amazing! They've seriously been a great encourager, especially since I have so many university assignments making me freak out at the moment. Please keep them coming, I always love to hear what you guys think!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	18. The Backwards One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, or reverting back to your inner child.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 17: The Backwards One.

"… so I want to thank all of you," Healer Williams was saying, standing at the head of the trainee staff room. "You have all worked so hard the past three days and any extra shifts picked up will be appreciated. I have also arranged free counselling with the St Mungo's Counselling Service. They will be operating up on the fifth floor next to the tea rooms and if at any time you wish to see them, just tell reception that you're leaving the floor."

Almost every trainee Healer from every year was packed into the staff room for the debriefing session. Healer Williams had gathered every single person who was working down to be talked to about what had happened with the shop explosion, leaving the full-Healers to deal with the patients for the time being. Pretty soon, we would swap around, so the full-Healers could be talked to as well.

Some I could tell were relieved to be told that they were doing a good job, especially the first-years; a lot of them were fresh out of Hogwarts, hardly more than eighteen years old and they had been through so much. Others were not so happy to have been torn away from their jobs. Gerald was sitting on one of the sofas next to me, jiggling his knee up and down and sighing exasperatedly every five seconds. Because we were so jam packed together, what with Ben, Margo, Sarah, Bethany Daniel and me all squashed together on the one sofa, every movement in Gerald's leg nearly jostled me off the sofa entirely.

"Would you _quit_ that?!" I hissed at him as Healer Williams continued to explain that regular scheduling would commence this time tomorrow.

"Sorry," Gerald stopped jiggling, but then he just moved onto cracking his knuckles. "I just want to get out of here …"

I knew why and I couldn't blame him. Every single second of free time that Gerald had, he was spending with Ally. He had been on break when Healer Williams called the meeting and Gerald was clearly pissed off at having his Ally-time taken away from him.

Eventually, Healer Williams called an end to the debrief and invited anyone with questions to come and ask. Gerald leapt out of his seat and ran for the doors, practically knocking over a couple of second-years in the process, despite the fact that he barely had time to make it up the stairs, let alone have a decent moment with his new girlfriend.

"… he _does_ know that he's got to go back to work again in like, five minutes, right?" Bethany asked out loud.

"Ah, leave him alone," Daniel shrugged. "Man, I _told_ you that he still loved her!" he added to Ben, who just scowled.

"Hey, give him some credit, Ben did only say he thought that it wouldn't happen," I pointed out. "Not that he didn't love her."

Both boys just turned to give me odd looks and I realised my mistake; while I had indeed been there for that particular conversation, I had been there as Cesario, not Rose. "I – I mean–" I stammered. "I think that's what Gerald said …"

I'm not entirely sure they bought it, but just continued to argue over who was right as Bethany tossed her brown ponytail back over her shoulder and Margo and Sarah bid me goodbye as they headed back to work. The debrief had been called just as I was clocking off, so I stayed to pull my Healer robe off, grab my bag and I headed into the wards to check on Libby.

Once I had left Mr Malfoy with Scorpius, I had been confident that he would look after his son (well, more or less, enough for me to go to work without worrying at least) so I had just popped my head in sometime this morning when I arrived. I planned to see him before I left, but I hadn't managed to visit Libby since I had aided in healing her on her arrival at the hospital three days ago, so she was my first priority.

When I entered the ward she was staying in, it was to find that there was practically a party going on. "What the hell?" I said, having to batter my way through the balloons to even see Libby's bed.

"Rosie!" Libby said, happily. She was sitting up and looking absolutely fine, surrounded by flying confetti, helium balloons and bunches of flowers. The other patients in the ward were looking rather surly at all the noise, since Jo, Trevor and Toby were all visiting her. "I was wondering when you'd come and see whether poor old Libby was still alive!"

"Been _working_," I said, perching on the side of her bed next to her and giving her a hug. "Haven't had a chance to come see you until now! God, I'm so glad you're alive!" I added, squeezing her tightly.

"Yeah, I hear I've got you to thank for that." Libby smiled at me as I pulled away.

I glared at the others. "Ok, who's been spinning stories?" I demanded.

"What? Rosie!" Trevor tried to look offended, though it was somewhat detracted from the fact that he had several balloons banging into his head. "I'm _saddened_ to realise that you think so little of us!"

"Yeah, we would _never_–" Jo began.

"I told her." Toby shrugged. Jo smacked her twin as Trevor groaned.

"Dude, come on!" Trevor said. "What part of 'keep the story on the down low' do you _not_ get?"

"In explanation, I only helped save you," I told Libby, leaving the others to bicker. "I was there when James brought you in, but I got called away when they started actually attending to you. Later I helped out and I left once I knew you'd be ok."

"Even so," Libby glanced up at me. While my friend was normally full of such light, it sort of shocked me to see that her face was still quite pale and her dark hair looked a complete mess from being stuck in bed for three days. I realised that she was still healing and it kind of scared me to think how close I'd been to losing her. "Thank you, Rosie. Who knows, you could have made all the difference."

"But I didn't … oh, you're welcome," I decided not to argue against her. "So why were you at the shop in the first place?"

"Work, believe it or not!" Libby told me. "Apparently, they've found the entrance to an ancient temple in Rome, but they can't get through without all the protective curses driving anyone mad who comes within ten feet. I've been on the research team, trying to come up with ways to get around it. I thought of those Daydream charms that your uncle sells and thought that because they take the mind away somewhere else, someone under the influence might be able to get past. I was in the middle of buying about a hundred, when your bloody cousin comes in and starts showing off!"

"So it _was_ James and Fred who started it?" I sighed, flopping back against Libby's pillows with her.

"I don't even know _what_ he was trying to do," Libby snorted. "Something to do with what he called 'The Flaming Piñata' but I was just trying to get out of the way. Fred was working at the time and of course he saw and wanted to get in on the action. Suggested James try his hand at juggling again. He probably wouldn't have tried it if Fred wasn't being so stupid … anyway, as you can imagine, one of the piñatas went crashing into the display for pressure-sensitive firework launchers and it all sort of went pear-shaped from there …"

"I know I have threatened to do this in the past," I said. "But now I think I mean it; I'm actually going to kill James Potter."

"Get Fred first, he was the one encouraging him!"

As lovely as it was seeing her ok and all of our friends, I forced myself to bid everyone goodbye. After one last hug to Libby and a promise to visit her before she was discharged, I made my way to the ward up on the first floor that Scorpius had been randomly placed in before I went home. Once I knew that he was ok, I guess I probably shouldn't have been visiting him, seeing as I'm his ex-girlfriend and all, but I couldn't help it. I _needed_ to see him talking and laughing with our friends, just to be reassured that he was going to fully recover. If he didn't like that, well, he could just shove it.

When I entered his ward, however, Scorpius had two visitors: Mr Malfoy, who hadn't left the hospital since I'd brought him there and was currently slumped down on his chair, snoring, and some girl that I didn't know. I stopped dead in my tracks in the doorway, staring in utter confusion at the pretty blond sitting on the edge of his bed. She was telling what seemed to be a funny story and Scorpius was listening with avid attention, the grin on his face almost painful to watch.

I was suddenly angry. Who the hell _was_ this bitch?!

I stormed forward, intent on completely ignoring the girl. She barely looked our age anyway, maybe a couple of years younger. Mr Malfoy gave a grunting snore in his sleep as Scorpius let out a laugh and it would have been remarkably funny if I hadn't know how worried Mr Malfoy actually was about his son. After losing his wife, Scorpius was basically all he had left. And if things went the way I was planning them now, he wouldn't have Scorpius much longer.

"Oi!" I called once I was in hearing distance.

"… no way did you– !" Scorpius's laughter died almost instantly the second he noticed me. I stood with my arms folded and stared between him and the girl. The girl was starting to look a little bit uncomfortable at my stare and Scorpius's face seemed like he was worried that I was about to snap and eat her.

Trust me, mate, I'm thinking about it.

"… what's up?" Scorpius asked, weakly.

"I should probably go," the girl said, quickly, before my mouth was really open to yell at him. "Um …" She glanced sideways at me as she jumped lightly off the bed, as if she were trying to think of something polite to say, but clearly the look I gave her told her to just leave before her body was found murdered in a ditch. She turned and said a quick, "Bye," to Scorpius, smiling and waving before almost running out of the ward.

When I turned back to Scorpius, he had his hand up as if he had waved, too. His smiled died when he noticed me watching. "_What_?" he said, letting his hand flop back down onto his blankets.

"Who the bloody hell was _that_?" I asked, keeping my arms folded in defiance.

"Not that it should matter to you at all, but that was my friend, Sophie," Scorpius ground out, glaring. "From work. She heard I was in the hospital and she came to say hello."

"The hell she was just saying hello …" I muttered under my breath.

"Oh, for god's sake, what the hell do you want?" Scorpius cut over me, looking exasperated. "I'm absolutely fine, as you know very well! You don't have to keep checking up on me!"

"I – I'm not checking up on you!" I countered. Yes, complete lie. Rose Weasley totally knows how to dig that hole, all right.

"Really?" Scorpius raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yes!" I insisted. "In fact I … erm, came up here to tell you that you'll probably be sent home tomorrow. They're discharging patients by the dozen to try and make more room and you and Libby can walk now, so …"

I could tell Scorpius didn't believe me just from the look in his eye, but I'd long since learnt how to avoid that look. It always made me feel guilty and in the past, it had only taken one glance of have me spilling the truth. But thankfully, Scorpius changed the subject.

"You've seen Libby?" he asked.

"What're you asking me for?" I said, confused.

"Rose, you may not have noticed, but I've been confined to my bed for the past three days!" Scorpius snapped. "And since you're the only person I know who may have seen her, I'm all but forced to ask you. Happy now?"

Ignoring the fact that answering would mean that we were having a somewhat civilised conversation, I simply said, "I've seen her. She's doing fine, still a bit shaken."

"Tell her I wish her well from me."

"Tell her yourself!" And civilised is now gone. Well, that lasted a while.

Scorpius just shook his head at me. "Look, I know that you've got better things to do than to stand here awkwardly with me and Al and Bea are coming to visit any time now, so just go home, Rose. You look dead on your feet."

I might have argued, but the conversation (if you can call it that) had practically drained me. Instead of coming up with some counter, I just turned and left before I could say something else stupid. Out in the corridor, I leaned against the wall with an exasperated sigh, rubbing my face and trying not to cry. Why was this so hard? Back when we were at Hogwarts, I had seen him practically every day and I managed not to get so worked up! Well, as worked up as I was now. The only difference between then and now was that I had since gone out with him for six years … ok, yeah, might have had something to do with it.

Who the hell was Sophie?

Someone calling my name made me look up, hands dropping to my sides and blinking rapidly. I saw Bea approaching, looking concerned as Al carried a bag of food behind her. "Are you ok?" she asked me, giving my arm a squeeze.

It was probably clear that I wasn't, but I nodded anyway. Al clapped a hand on my shoulder and gave me a small smile before entering Scorpius's ward with the food, leaving Bea and I outside. My cousin always did seem to know when us girls needed our moment. I didn't want to cry in front of my best friend, but I did want a hug, and without saying anything, I just threw my arms around her. Bea hugged me back. "It's Scorpius, right?" she muttered.

"What else?"

"I swear, I'm going to kill that bloke."

"He survived an explosion, I think he'll see right through any murder plan," I muttered into her shoulder. "… trust me, I've thought about it."

Bea gave a snorting laugh as she pulled away. I hesitated slightly in asking my next question, "You … home for dinner?" I wasn't entire sure that I wanted to know the answer. . I knew that ever since I'd left for the Healer course, Bea had practically moved in with Al (if my dead plant was anything to go by) and at this point, I seriously doubted she'd even move back. But Bea must have noticed the slightly desperate look in my eye of needing someone with me, because she said,

"Yes, Rosie," She nodded and I felt a weight on my chest lift slightly. "'Course I will. Hope you're cooking, though."

"I hope so, too!" I teased.

"I'll just say hi to Scorpius, then we'll go, yeah?" she asked and I nodded that it was fine. Just as she placed a hand on the ward door, however, I found myself asking completely against my will,

"Hey, Bea … do you know who Sophie is?"

"Who?" she asked.

"No one," I shrugged. "… someone. She came and visited Scorpius just now."

"The only Sophie I ever knew was that weird girl who went out with her own cousin, back at Hogwarts," Bea laughed. "With any luck, that's who was here."

Yeah. Luck. We all know how great my luck can be.

* * *

The next day, by some miracle, I was given the day off work.

"You're still technically on leave, Rosie," Catie had told me when I had arrived that morning. "Go home! If you get one of the final spots, this'll be your life every hour of every day, so you might as well enjoy it while you can!"

So I'd been sent home with nothing to do but study and try not to think about Scorpius, also sitting alone, two flats down from me.

Al and Bea had brought him home this morning before they had to jet off to work and I had hidden in my room. I'd already crossed the boundaries of a normal break-up, which I figured were probably avoid each other every second of the day and never speak to each other again, if you can help it. I'd been doing so well up until the explosion! Then I just _had_ to go and save his bloody life and now, I can't stop thinking about him again.

I shook my head wildly in an attempt to clear it; focus, got to pass exams _somehow_. We had compulsory exams at the end of each training year, y'know, just to prove that we actually knew what we were doing. If I didn't pass and pass well, then it was _see you_ to the Healer dream and I'd probably end up becoming the first aid mediwitch for a boring company or the Hospital Wing attendant at Hogwarts! Nothing against Madam Pomfrey, of course, she healed me and a lot of my mates in confidence at one point back in fifth-year (we'd held an illegal Scavenger Hunt, but she hadn't told a soul, the dear). But she _is_ getting on a bit in years, so they're probably looking for someone new soon. Maybe I should just put in an application now, save me the trouble …

I had just resigned myself to getting back to my lovely text book, when my owl, Layla, tapped on the window, a note in her beak. I was a bit confused, seeing as I hadn't finished my latest letter reply to Lily yet, but still, she had a letter for me. Either way, I got up and opened the window, letting her hop onto my shoulder and drop the note into my hands.

It was from Bea at work. _Rosie_, it said. _Borrowed Layla, sure you don't mind! I'm at work, this latest article is boring me to tears. Who gives a crap about Tyler Dashney's latest pop hit, 'Ac-Ac-Accio my worries away'? At least it's better than the last musician I had to interview; that had been that rapper, Wiz-Diddy, whose number one single was 'Slap that wizard ho'. I seriously need a new job. Anyway. I forgot to ask you this morning, can you just go and check on Scorpius at some point during the day? He has to take that potion every hour and it makes him drowsy. Just make sure that he's not slowly dying or something? I know it's kind of awkward, but you can't hide from him forever and Al and I don't get home until after five! And I KNOW you still care, so don't even try and use that excuse on me. I have my ways of finding out. Oh, god, I can hear Monica screaming at someone through my office walls, I'd better write something before she tries and takes my monthly feature away from me. Love you! Bea x _

I was going to _kill_ her.

I stayed on my sofa for a good hour after I got her letter, deliberating and resisting and changing my mind every five seconds. I didn't want to see him; any conversation would just be awkward and forced and come back to me saving his life. But on the other hand … there was a tiny, _tiny_ part of me that maybe, kind of, sort of, possibly missed him.

Like, _way_ deep down.

"Yes," I muttered to myself, getting up and stalking to the door. "Totally going to kill you."

When I reached the door to his and Al's flat, I paused, realising that my hair was a mess. Then, I scoffed at myself, because when had I ever actually _cared_ what Scorpius thought of me? I'd been studying all day, so I was wearing leggings and a huge, comfy jumper that I'd accidentally stretched too much by tucking my knees up inside it, the way Grandma Molly always told me off for. My hair was probably standing on end. I actually considered going home and changing into a hot dress that I knew sent Scorpius's mind reeling.

I was never going to get through the door at this rate. What the hell is wrong with me?

I barged straight through into the flat before I could change my mind once more. Scorpius was crashed out on the sofa, watching some Muggle PV show and eating biscuits covered in spray-cheese. It was something of a comfort food for him, which I had discovered only after we'd started going out, much to his embarrassment.

"Going out on the binge, I see." I commented, leaning against the wall and Scorpius gave a start, practically choking on his biscuit.

"R-Rose!" he gasped. "What–? OUCH!"

"Don't bloody move, you numpty!" I sighed, stalking forward so I could help him sit upright without ripping his skin open again. While the colour had come back to his face and he was as lively as ever, I knew that he still had bandages on underneath his jumper and any strenuous movement would be as painful as the time we had sort of been snogging backed up against a sofa in the joint common room back in seventh-year, only to have one of the Idiot Twins' juggling projectiles to go crashing into his head.

… thinking about past snog sessions is _not_ going to help make this less awkward, Rosie.

"You don't have to help me, I'm fine!" Scorpius snapped, tugging his arm away once he was upright.

I snorted. "You've got to be kidding, you can't even sit up by yourself!"

"What are you doing here?" he said.

"Blame Bea, she wanted me to come check on you," I said, standing in front of him and folding my arms. "So? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine! Jesus, woman …" Scorpius tried to peer around me to watch whatever was happening on the PV. "Can you move?"

"Here I am, offering my slave services and you're more interested in watching whatever's on the bloody PV!"

"You _do_ know that it's actually TV, right?" Scorpius muttered, giving up.

"Oh, come on, I'm not a complete idiot," I kicked his leg. "You know that I blame my dad for that."

"How is you physically abusing me offering up your, what did you call them? 'Slave Services'?" Scorpius complained. When I gave an exasperated groan and turned to storm off, he sniggered and called after me, "Aw, c'mon! I'm only winding you up! Honestly, I appreciate you coming and tending to me!"

"Don't be bloody sarcastic," I grabbed a cushion from the armchair across the room and lobbed it at his head. "I taught you that."

"I'm _not_," Scorpius said, with so much conviction that I actually looked up. I decided that I wasn't going to be the first to say anything – if he needed help, he would have to ask for it himself – so I just plopped myself down onto the armchair, crossing one leg over the other and waiting for him to talk. Eventually, he came out with, "… er, so, how was New Zealand?"

Damn it. Why did he have to be so stubborn? Actually that was probably another trait he got off me … "Um, it was great," I said, trying to look like I was wondering why he was bringing it up. _Seriously, don't bring it up_. "Lot warmer than here."

"Well, what did you do?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "C'mon, when someone asks how your trip overseas went, you generally give them a bit more than the weather."

"I – it was good," I shrugged. "Just hung out with LL in …" Oh, god, I couldn't remember the last city she said she'd been to. I couldn't screw up the continuity, otherwise I was in trouble. "Wellington? Palmerston North? Some city, they all blend together for me."

Scorpius narrowed his eyes and I wanted to scream, '_What_?!' But that wasn't exactly an indicator that you were innocent. Nor, apparently, was my nonchalant-ness.

"You're lying." he suddenly said, sounding surprised.

"What the hell?" I said, trying not to panic. "You think I'd honestly make up shit like that–?"

"You, yes," Scorpius cut in. "Anyone else might have the sense not to, but you have never had much of that, have you?"

"Hey!"

"Look, I'm serious, you're lying, I can tell," Scorpius said, nodding at me. "You do this funny eye-twitchy thing, even though you sound as convincing as hell. You can lie through your teeth at me, but you never even _went_ to New Zealand, did you?"

"I–I–" I stammered. "Damn it, how the hell do you DO that?!"

"Because like it or not, I know you, Rose Weasley!" Scorpius said cheerfully. "C'mon, where did you _actually_ go? Bet it was somewhere embarrassing; No! Don't tell me … you're secretly a prostitute, living a double life as a call girl in case being a Healer falls through?"

"Piss off!" I cried. "Like you could afford me if I was a call girl …" I grumbled under my breath. Scorpius unfortunately heard and laughed.

"Fine. A stripper then?"

"Did your head just go bang into the gutter the second I broke up with you?"

"Rose, I think it was there the moment we met," Scorpius snorted. "Well, what was it, then? It had to be something illegal and I'm not quitting until you tell me–"

"I went on a Healer training course that was for males only." I suddenly blurted out.

Scorpius gave me a strange look. Clearly, he wasn't expecting that. "What?" he said.

"It's a long story …" I muttered.

"You think I'm going anywhere? I can't get off this sofa without crying."

In the end, I found myself actually telling him everything. About disguising myself as Cesario Weasley, my own cousin flirting with me, getting the goss from the lads out at the pub and even Healer Hot-Arse charging in halfway through the last night, announcing that there had been a shop explosion. "I wasn't even allowed to go help as Rose, because I wasn't supposed to be in the bloody country!" I complained. "The receptionist called on the off-chance that I'd come home early and woe behold, I had!"

"Well, you got to help out in the end," Scorpius shrugged. "A lot of lives were probably saved because you were there. I know of at least one."

"Yeah," And there we go. It was awkward again. Glancing around the room, I asked, "Does any of this seem … I dunno, _backwards_ to you?"

"Backwards?" Scorpius asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean with us," I said, not looking at him. "Eleven years ago … we started off as these two little kids who wanted nothing more than to kill each other and eventually, grew into awkward teenagers who … well, still wanted to kill each other, but also kind of loved each other. Now, I feel like we've reverted backwards, turned into those kids again who just want to keep ripping each other's throats out."

"Backwards," Scorpius said again. "I've never thought of it like that. Is that a good thing?"

"Does it matter? It's not like you were going to go forwards." I muttered.

"Sod off," Scorpius threw the cushion back at me, hitting me on the chest. "_You_ dumped _me_, if I'm not mistaken. This was all _your_ idea! Don't you go throwing it back at me!"

"Agh!" I groaned, heaving myself up out of the armchair. "You know what? Bea can forget about it; you can keel over unconscious or whatever, I won't care! In the future you can help your bloody self!"

"Fine! I didn't want anything anyway!" He went for more biscuits, but I found myself grabbing the spray-cheese from him out of spite. "Oi!" he cried.

"Oh, I thought you didn't _want_ anything?" I asked, dangling the can in front of him. "You can have it if you can come here and get it yourself …?"

"_Rose_!"

"That's what I thought."

Conclusion to my life going backwards: 

-I can't believe that I've actually reverted back to where I was, six years ago. And all it took was a near-death explosion.

-I normally try to block out most of fifth-year. Most of it was the worst time of my life. But it never works because as much as I try to think otherwise, it was also the best.

-The explosion has actually been all over the news; even Bea got to stop interviewing wannabe pop stars to do a feature on one of the victims who survived. Overall, 17 people died that day, whether it was from the original blast, injuries later or from smoke inhalation.

-I always said that the Idiot Twins would be voted most likely to end up in Azkaban.

Rose: 18, Scorpius: 17.

(I stole his spray-cheese! Holy shit, I really _am_ fifteen again …).

* * *

A/N: Sorry if this seems a bit like an in between chapter with nothing much going on. I had to establish Rose's relationship with Scorpius again, along with introduce a future plot point (Sophie), but I swear things get interesting again soon.

Thank you once more for your support. Please, _please_, keep telling me your thoughts!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	19. The Desperate One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, James or desperate plans.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 18: The Desperate One.

"God, just go throw yourself under a bus, would you?!" I shrieked. "Go on! Right now! There's hundreds of buses in London, pick ANY!"

"Oh, grow up."

"GROW UP?! You arrogant piece of–!"

"What the HELL is going on?!" Al roared the second he and Bea entered mine and the latter's flat. It was to find Scorpius and I standing at opposite ends of the lounge, screaming and throwing things at each other. Never a dull moment in the life of Rose Weasley. Of course, Scorpius and I both burst into a tirade at once,

"He just barges in here–"

"She never listens–"

"–thinks he knows–"

"–world bloody revolves around her! I–"

"–has no right and don't even get me STARTED on–"

"–it's been over two months and Sophie doesn't–"

"–blah, blah, blah, I'm telling you, if that bitch–"

"–none of her bloody _business_! And another–"

"–go out with him anyway because he's such a _pigging_–"

"–ing BITCH!"

"ARSEHOLE!"

Al and Bea just stood there in the doorway, looking rather stunned as I caught my breath, Scorpius at the other end, breathing hard. I was at the point where I was fuming so badly, I should _not_ be held accountable for my actions.

"Right," Al bravely stormed forward, Bea practically cowering by the door. It was moments like these when I see the Gryffindor in my cousin. "Scorpius, go home. _Now_."

"What the hell, mate?!"

"Bea," Al turned to his fiancée. "Talk him down? I'll handle Rosie."

"Thank god," Bea muttered, before walking over so she could take Scorpius firmly by the arm and drag him out of the flat, shutting the door behind her. The second they were both gone I muffled a scream and hurled yet another plate spinning across the room. It shattered, rather like my heart at this point, and I threw myself face down onto the sofa. Al just watched this act of violence with a surprisingly calm manor before lifting my legs and silently sitting down next to me, letting my feet rest across his lap.

"So," he said eventually, after I'd had a chance to simmer down slightly and stop yanking stray threads out of one of the sofa cushions. "You going to tell me what that was all about or will I have to call in Teddy?"

I rolled over onto my back to glare at him, but my cousin didn't even react. That was the downside of being best friends with your family; they end up knowing you too well and when exactly they know you have meaning behind your anger. Before, I had wanted to strangle something, preferably the blond, insensitive git that had been standing across from me, but now I just felt like crying.

"He's such an idiot!" I said, my voice still kind of high-pitched and squeaky.

"I get that, but _why_?" Al asked. "I mean, he's an idiot on a regular basis, but what's he done to make you turn to throwing plates at him?"

"It's nothing. It's stupid. I shouldn't even be upset. I'm _not_ upset! I'm just _angry_!" I threw the cushion away. It wasn't helping. Stupid cushion. "He got a new girlfriend."

"Oh," Al winced, as if to say, _oh, shit_. "Erm … maybe I _should_ have had Bea talk to you …"

"Look, like I said, I shouldn't even _be_ upset!" I cried. "But he had the bloody nerve to come here and ask me if I was _ok_ with it! I mean, what the bloody HELL? Of course I wouldn't be OK with it! What, he thinks that after six years, he can just waltz off with some slut who doesn't even care about him?!"

"Whoa, ok, do you even _know_ anything about this girl?" Al cut over me.

"Just that her name is Sophie and that they met through work," I rolled my eyes. "I saw her once, when she came to visit him while he was in the hospital. Says he 'really likes her'! Bull_shit_! Does six years mean NOTHING to him?!"

"Look, you can't go crazy-psycho-Rose on him when you actually know nothing about this girl!" Al insisted. "She is really nice and all you can do is bash on her? No wonder he assumes you think the world revolves around you!"

"I thought you were meant to be on my side?! Hang on …" I narrowed my eyes at him, sitting up and pulling back my feet as Al winced. "… what do you mean 'she _is_'?"

"Oh, um–"

"Al, have you MET this girl?!"

"Look, he made me swear not to tell!" Al cried out as I thumped him on the arm, like I used to when we were little. "It was only a few days ago, he wanted to bring her as his plus one to the wedding, so I wanted to meet her! If it's any consolation, Bea told me it was a bad idea …"

"God, Al …" I moaned, throwing an arm over my eyes. "I don't believe this …"

"Look, I can understand that you're upset over this," Al said, weakly. I glanced under my arm and saw that underneath the messy black hair and normally innocent green eyes, there was a note of shame. He did feel sorry for not telling me and I decided to go easier on him. Well, a _little_. "But what on earth got you to the screaming, hurling plates at each other's heads, trying to throw each other under a bus point?"

"Oh, er, well …" I avoided his gaze. "He might have got … erm, a _tad_ pissed off when I called her a desperate whore. Then he said that I was just jealous and being a whiny princess and it was no wonder that I was still single. That's kind of when the plates started flying and it all sort of, um, snowballed from there …"

"Hell, Rosie," Al shook his head at me. "I thought we'd set the ground rules? You attempt to be _civil_, especially in public and with company!"

"Technically, I did _attempt_ to be civil," I pointed out. "I asked what her name was."

"And did you express an interest in getting to know her?"

"… I expressed a clear interest in mounting her head on a wall?"

"Forget plates, I'm surprised that he didn't just murder you," Al sighed. Then, he held out his arms and gestured towards him. "C'mon. You look like hell."

"Aren't we a bit old for cuddles?"

"I'm you cousin. Indulge me."

I did. I moved over and let Al hug me tightly. I felt the tears prickling at the back of my eyes, but I blinked them back. Seriously, who the hell gets a new girlfriend after two months? Maybe if you'd only gone out for a few months, but not if it was for six _years_! Fights like this had been cropping up frequently ever since the shop explosion. It was fine back when we were at Hogwarts, because if we truly couldn't stand being in each other's presence, then we had dormitories on opposite sides of the castle to retreat to. But now, well, he was living with one of my best friends, who was engaged to my other best friend and they happened to live two flats down from me. Cooling down time was no longer an option.

"You reckon you can be normal now?" Al asked me.

"Not in a million years. But I'll try."

"Good, 'cause we've got wedding plans to go through. I know," Al added at my loud groan and he let me sit up to give him an exasperated look, his arm now slung around my shoulders. "It's torture for me, too. Bea has offered to pay me five Galleons to slap Queen Godzilla, but I just can't hit a girl."

"I can!" I insisted. "What does she want at the wedding this time?"

"A live orchestra. Like, strings section, wind, brass, percussion and everything. You'd think it was the bloody Queen getting married! Don't even get me started on the invite list. That's the next big thing. According to her and Mrs Bowmen," Al added with a _kill me now_ look. "every single person in the Bowmen family has to be there to witness their little Bea get married. She's inviting people we don't even know!"

"Surely you can draw a line somewhere?"

"Oh, she did," Al growled. "That line was between our family and everyone else!"  
"_What_?" I said. "You're _kidding_ me? She won't even let you invite the Weasley's?"

"And we actually _talk_ to our family!" Al agreed with me. "She's there inviting like, second cousins and uncles four times removed, and a great-aunt Bea's never even met, just so she could use her manor house for the reception! But Uncle Charlie didn't even make the cut! Something about all his burn scars detracting from the aesthetic pleasure of the decorations."

"What a bitch!" I cried. "She can't–"

"Trust me, Rosie, Bea and I complained until we were blue in the face," Al said, wearily. "She's not budging. We're almost thinking that after this wedding from hell, we should have our own ceremony where our families are actually _allowed_ to come."

"Bea's always said she doesn't want anything huge," I nodded. "Just you and our mates."

"Well, invites are being sent out next week, so we need to know whether you're bringing a plus one," Al winced slightly at my expression. "Yeah. Sorry. I'll assume that's a no?"

"Just let me organise the hens night," I told him. "Trust me, there will be no boys at _that_ party! I take it knobhead himself will be organising yours?"

"Yes … though 'knobhead' wanted to talk to some of the other boys and get their opinions," Al rolled his eyes. "Honestly, the whole reason I picked him was so I _didn't_ have James throwing me some wild party of freedom the night before my wedding!"

"Can't we just have them earlier?" I asked. "Y'know, like a week before or something? People do that now, right?"

"Oh, no, only if you want to answer to Queen Godzilla about 'breaking tradition'!" Al imitated Queen Godzilla's high-pitched and severely irritating voice. Even though it was a horrendously bad impression, it still made me wince. "Seriously. I gave up arguing. Bea's still trying to get her way, but she's so desperate now that even the slightest compromise, she'll accept. She managed to get Libby invited, but she had to say yes to the live doves."

"Live … doves?"

"I know," Al sighed. "What with the peacocks, horse-drawn carriage, the Bowmen family cat, Juno the Second, and the entertainment leopard during the reception, it'll be more like a bloody zoo than a wedding!"

But then, Al grinned at me and stood up with a stretch. "Mind you," he said, arms in the air. "In the end, I still get to marry the love of my life, so it's kind of worth it. I'm going to go check on knobhead and Bea," he added, giving me a shrewd look. "Can I trust you to behave until Bea gets here?"

"Of course you can, you twat."

"Love the pet names, Rosie, it's so endearing," Al said, walking for the door. "Just …" he turned back and faced me with a smile. "Remember I love you, right? And that you can come talk to me about anything?"

"I will," I gave him a genuine smile back. "I love you, too."

"… and clean up those plates!" he added, yelling over his shoulder before the door clicked shut behind him. And I'm in silence again. Brilliant. I've found recently that if my mind has nothing to concentrate on, then it just wanders, normally onto inappropriate and/or forbidden topics in my mind. So to distract myself, I actually summoned all the shards of plates off the floor and onto the table, to see if I could salvage any with _reparo_.

_Scorpius and Sophie_ … why did they have to sound so _nice_? Scorpius and Rose sounded like a broomstick company.

I was just trying to fit several pieces together like a jigsaw, when the fireplace roared. I turned and saw the bright green flames. Then, a long-legged body was tumbling out, accompanied by messy black hair just like his brother's and a sheepish expression.

"Hey, Rosie–!"

I grabbed one of the pieces of shattered plates and threw it at James' face, which he ducked with a slightly frightened expression. "Go away!" I yelled. "I still haven't forgiven you!"

"Jesus, Rosie! GAH!" he ducked another shard. "C'mon! I've apologised like, a million times, right?"

I just turned with a huff back to my plates, but it was always a mission to ignore James Potter when he wanted your undivided attention. "Pleeeeeease, Rosie?" he whined, running up to where I was sat at the kitchen table, my back turned to him. "I miss you and your antics! My life isn't nearly as dramatic without you in it!"

"Funny, I can say the same!" I said, whirling around to face him. James gave me a weak look as he sank into the chair next to me. "If you ask me, your punishment isn't nearly as harsh as it should be."

"Look, I've done over 200 hours community service at the hospital!" James cried. "Fred, too! We're honestly sorry, it was an _accident_."

"An accident that _killed_ people, James!" I snapped back. "Honestly, I'm surprised that you didn't have to go to trial in front of the Wizengamot!"

"Even they can recognise an accident when there is one," James pointed out. "Honestly, we never meant to cause any damage and we're helping Uncle George rebuild the shop and the others around it every day."

It had been a month since the shop explosion and while some like Scorpius and Libby made full recoveries, there were several others who'd had to attend the funerals of their loved ones. The aftermath of trying to save those who couldn't be saved wasn't fun. I'd even spent several sessions with the St Mungo's counsellor. Although, when all I did was complain about the Idiot Twins for the third session in a row, the counsellor was quick to sign off that I was mentally fit to return to work. I was still incredibly angry … but one glance at James' face told me that he felt the same as a little kid caught stealing from the biscuit jar; ashamed and sorry.

"Oh, James, I won't even _try_ to fathom the way your mind works," I told him. But then I hugged him, because I was just glad that he was safe and not dead. "But I love you. Thanks for not dying."

"You're welcome." James said, grinning once I pulled back.

"I don't even know what the hell made you do it," I said, turning back to the plates and trying to find pieces that would fit together. "Honestly, I would have thought you of all people would know better, after all the fires and stuff you caused at Hogwarts!"

"Ah, I was just being an idiot back then," James shrugged. But suddenly, he looked kind of awkward, which was just bizarre. James is never awkward. He's normally the one _causing_ the awkwardness. "But, um, I did want to talk to you about that …"

"What, you being an idiot?" I asked. "That reminds me, where is your twin today?"

"Work," James said, still looking uncomfortable. "Didn't want him shoving his nose in when I needed to come talk to you."

I just stared at him. James went practically nowhere without his personal sidekick and Idiot Twin, Fred. "If you're going to try and blow up my flat, you've got another thing coming." I was quick to say.

"Good god, if I had wanted to blow it up, it would have been sky high by now!" James flung up his hands in exasperation. "Look, I just wanted to talk to you without anyone else around! Is that too much to ask?"

"Ok, fine, I'll stop teasing," I said, taking pity on him, since James had gone kind of pale. Ok, that's rather weird; something was clearly wrong, since James never goes anywhere without a mischievous smile and a plan to at least demolish _something_. In fact, the only other time I'd ever seen him without a grin on his face was at Astoria Malfoy's funeral. "Come, dear James, and tell Agony Aunt Rosie what is wrong."

"Er … well, Al's definitely not here, right?"

I rolled my eyes. "He's at his own flat, stop stalling! What is it?"

James took a deep breath. "Ah. Well, er, the thing is … I'm kind of in love with your mate …"

I just stared at him for a moment, sure that he had to be joking. That's it, he just made a funny!

I mean, _James and love_? That was about as unfathomable as Scorpius having a new girlfriend! James and Fred have always insisted that they were going to be bachelors for life. I believe their motto is actually 'living the high-life and scoring chicks'. I mean, sure, James has managed to hold down a girlfriend or two over the years, but they lasted about as long as my sock and the girl was always a bit desperate. But apparently today was just a day for impossibilities, since James continued to look like he was going to throw up.

"… you're not _serious_, right?" I asked, hesitantly.

"The hell? Come on, Rosie, I'm admitting this out loud! Why the heck would I make this shit up?"

"Well, I hate to break it to you, James," I told him. "But Bea's kind of already engaged to your brother."

"What?! Ew, no!" James yelled. "God, Rosie! _Bea_? Al would bloody kill me! Not to mention that not only does she scare me slightly, but blonds just _really _don't do it for me. Not since that chick from Nepal … or was it Canada? I don't bloody know, but she wasn't half-crazy, I can tell you that–"

"James!" I yelled and he fell silent. "Jabbering about ex-girlfriends isn't going to get us anywhere! If it's not Bea, then who? You're going to have to be more specific than 'your mate!"

I shouldn't have been surprised, not really. I don't even know what I was expecting, but clearly it wasn't what came out of James' mouth, since it still made me practically fall off my chair,

"… er, Libby."

"LIBBY?!" I had practically yelled as my elbow slipped off the table and I nearly fell over.

"Rosie, shut up!" James yelped, yanking me back up by the arm. "She only lives one floor down, she can probably hear you!"

"Oh, god, I'm sorry!" I cried. "But … you're serious, aren't you?"

"Do I _look_ like I'm kidding?"

"Libby!" I cried, almost laughing now. "I never thought I'd see the day! When the hell did this start?"

"Oh, I dunno," James said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Only the night you decided to try and forget all about Scorpius and get horribly drunk, dragging Libby and Bea out to town with you! You could have at least warned me, but noooo …"

"Come off it," I scoffed. "That was like, two years ago, and we weren't _that_ drunk."

"When you saw me, you thought I was Freddie Mercury," James said, bluntly. "And I bet you don't even remember belting out 'Somebody to Love' in the middle of a nightclub, do you?"

"U-Um …"

Ok, I admit, that night was just one huge colourful blur for me. The only things I know happened are the things Al told me afterwards. We had apparently lost Libby before Al showed up that night, two and a half years ago, so I actually had no idea what happened in the meantime.

"Yeah," James snorted, but he still looked like his world was crashing down around him. "I don't even know what the bloody hell happened. I mean, I knew Libby from the café and the fact that she was your mate, but apart from that, I barely knew her at all. But while you were off doing your _Queen_ impersonation, Libby started flirting and the next thing I knew, you and Bea were cheering while we snogged."

"Now that _has_ to be an exaggeration," I scoffed. There was _no way_ I was believing any of this. "No one could ever get me _that_ drunk."

"You see that scar on your knee?" James said, pointing out the mark on my right knee. Narrowing my eyes at him, I remembered randomly seeing it one day and wondering how the bloody hell I had gotten it. "That was from you falling off one of the tables at the nightclub, singing 'can anybody find meeeee somebody to-ooh love' as dedicated to Libby and I."

"Oh …" I winced. I could almost feel the crash. "Well, fine. But Libby told us what happened, as disgusting as it was to hear. How did a one-night stand turn into _love_?" I resisted putting quote marks around the word.

"Gah, I don't bloody know, do I?!" James cried. "I mean, I wake up the next morning and she's disappeared, not even a note or anything! And I know she remembered, because the next time we had work together, she couldn't even look me in the eye and later told me that I was to never let her get drunk with you again! But hell, Rosie …" He shrugged. "Look, I've been around, right, you know that … but no matter how many girls there were before her, none of them had anything on Libby. That one night together was practically mind-shattering and I haven't been able to stop thinking about her ever since."

"… holy shit," I said in pure astonishment. "You know, I _really_ didn't buy this at first, but now I'm starting to actually think you mean it. It's scaring me slightly. You seriously haven't been with anyone else since then?"

"Piss off!" James scoffed. "I'm still a bloke, aren't I? But no other girl has even come _close_ to Libby. What happened at the joke shop … I was being stupid. I saw her come in and I was trying to impress her. Fred encouraged me and, well, I probably never would have gone too far if it hadn't been for her."

I couldn't believe this. I should have believed it; god knows that James tried to get off with any girl who was straight and wasn't related to him. But witnessing it first hand was something else.

"So you … what?" I asked. "Want like, advice or something?"

"Yes!" James cried, lurching forward and tugging on my sleeve. "Advice! That's exactly what I need! Please, I'm bloody desperate here, tell me what to do!"

"Ok, first of all, you do realise that Libby hates your guts and will probably always consider you 'Rosie's disgusting cousin'?" I asked, which I guess was a bit harsh, but James needed to hear it. He actually nodded seriously, which I took to mean that things had gotten _really_ desperate here. "Ok, second, you also realise that my only serious relationship ended with a lot of screaming and now basically consists of throwing shit at each other?" He nodded to that, too. Good Merlin. "Er … well, ok then, I guess. I'll try and help you get things right with Libby."

"YES! Rosie, I bloody love you!" James yelled, abandoning tugging on my arm so he could throw his arms around me.

"Hang on, I've got a few conditions!" I said and James pulled back, still bouncing up and down in his chair, the grin back on his face. Jesus, this guy would say yes to anything! "You have to promise me that you _mean_ this. That it isn't just about the chase and that if we succeed and somehow manage to make her see the brilliant, albeit weird, bloke that you are, then you will not dump her the second the honeymoon is over. Are we clear?"

"Yes, yes!"

"Also," I added. "I don't want any of this 'scoring chicks' nonsense. If you really do love Libby, the way to go about getting her isn't throwing yourself at other women. And no using any of Fred's ridiculous lines on her. Trust me, 'my love for you is like diarrhoea, I just can't hold it in!' is _not_ funny."

"Aw. Fine."

"And lastly," I knew this would be the kicker. "You have to _tell_ her."

"What?" James looked like I'd just told him I was an alien.

"You heard me," I said. "No snog first and ask questions later! You want Libby in your life, you have to tell her first! Those are my conditions."

"But I've never told a girl I love her before!" James cried.

"There's a first time for everything," I said. "Do we have a deal?"

James grumbled and moaned for a bit, but eventually, he shook my hand. "I really must be bloody desperate …" he muttered.

* * *

"We're having a party, Friday!" I called the second Bea walked through the door.

"Oh, really?" Bea asked, raising an eyebrow. "Does this mean you won't be trying to seriously maim your ex anymore?"

"I never promised that," I told her. "No, James stopped by and I said I'd help him with something, so we're having a party! Fancy dress, so we must have costumes."

Bea looked confused at my complete turnaround of mood. it wasn't surprising, considering this afternoon I had been fit to murder. Now, it was ten at night and I was still brainstorming costume ideas. The really unfortunate thing about costumes was that there are hardly any famous red-headed figures in Wizarding history. Unless you count that dish-washing lady who made the news last year because she was keeping illegal rabbit/ashwinder crosses in her scullery and she nearly burnt down the whole of London. Yeah.

"What the hell has got into you?" Bea looked very confused as she crossed the lounge to the kitchen where I was still brainstorming ideas at the table.

"James happened," I shrugged. "And I've decided that Scorpius can go off and snog whoever he bloody well likes. I don't give a shit."

"So Sophie's invited to the party, then?"

I snorted. "Like hell."

"Rosie!" Bea sighed. "Look, it's not the end of the world! Sure, he's got a new girlfriend, but Al says she's really nice and apparently, she even wants to meet you!"

"… _why_?" I asked.

"I don't know, maybe because you're just so warm and cuddly," Bea rolled her eyes. "Point is, you can't take your anger out on her. Jealousy is kind of an ugly emotion, Rosie. Just humour them?"

"For god's sake are you on my side or not?" I said. "And I'm not jealous!"

"Then, what?" Bea gave me a shrewd look. "Because you can't go back and do your 'I don't want to be with you, but I don't want you to be with anyone else either' thing again. Mainly because it's actually your 'I secretly want to be with you, but I'm terrified of saying so, so I don't want you to be with anyone else, because you'll start ignoring me and we'll lose whatever freaky relationship we've still got' thing."

I would have normally protested that, but the thing is that had _exactly_ been my thing back at Hogwarts. Every time Scorpius had shown even the slightest interest in another girl, back before I even knew how I felt about him, I had scoffed and determined that she was never going to be good enough for him. This Sophie was going to _wish_ she'd never met me.

"Ok, so I'm _kind of_ jealous," I muttered. "But only because he's _mine_ to mock and tease! I'm not still in love with him or anything."

"Of course not," Bea seemed to realise she was fighting a losing battle and thankfully, decided to drop the conversation entirely. Instead, she focussed on my brainstorming. "So why are we having this party again?"

"I told you, for James."

"What the hell has he done now?" Bea said, looking rather frightened.

I found myself grinning. "He's fallen in love, that's what!" I said, cheerfully. Oh, was I not supposed to tell her? Oops. Oh, well. I'm sure James will understand, Bea's my best friend after all.

Bea's reaction was rather similar to mine. She had just been in the process of summoning over the tea pot, but upon hearing my declaration, she was distracted completely and our tea pot went smashing to the kitchen floor. "Oh, bugger," she muttered, repairing it and summoning it to her hands before she could destroy it again. "But LOVE?!" she yelped, clearly getting that this was the bigger picture here. "James Potter is in _love_?"

"It gets better! He's in love with Libby!"

"With LIBBY?!" Bea cried. "That's … wow. I mean, I figured that he would leap at the chance to get into her knickers again, but he's actually in _love_ with her?"

"According to him," I said. "And trust me, he was definitely desperate for my help. There was no pulling him back from the edge, he's well and truly fallen over!"

"This is just too hilarious!" Bea laughed. "So this party is so, what? You can secretly try and play matchmaker?"

"He asked for my help! I need something else to do in my life, apart from work myself into a coma."

"This is going to be brilliant!" Bea said. "Can I tell Al?"

"No! Geez, I'm not even supposed to tell you! Tell Al, and James will never hear the end of it! Libby'll find out before James even has a chance to tell her himself."

"Aw, fine then," Bea complained. "But when our marriage breaks down, because he finds out that I lied to him, then I will be right back here to blame you and also force you to pay for the divorce."

"You're not getting a bloody divorce, you and Al will be together forever," I told her, trying not to snort with laughter. "And with any luck, James and Libby may not be far behind you!"

Conclusion to being desperate: 

-Do not let yourself go anywhere near the kitchen. There no telling what I might have thrown if I'd gotten my hands on the cutlery drawer.

-I am utterly convinced that 'Sophie' will never ever be good enough for Scorpius. Even if she adopts cute puppies and does volunteer work for the homeless or something.

-Being desperate is an ugly stage. I do not recommend letting yourself get to it.

Rose: 18, Scorpius: 18.

(We _seriously_ need to stop this whole 'neck and neck' thing).

* * *

A/N: So you've probably all seen James and Libby coming this entire story. They were just one of those things that happened and even as the author, I had no control over them. In GIR they barely knew each other, but CGIR came along and _bam_, they just seemed to gravitate towards each other. I hope you're looking forward to the party!

And yes, Sophie is official. Feel free to hate her. Feel free to love her. I don't mind at all. :)

Thank you once more for all your reviews. Again, I feel like this is a bit of an in between chapter, but the next one gets interesting, I swear! It would be appreciated if you could tell me your thoughts. :)

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	20. The Psychotic One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, James, _Doctor Who_, blackmail or parties. I do, however, own Libby and Sophie. :)

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 19: The Psychotic One.

We held what I liked to call "James' Desperate Party", at the Leaky Cauldron, since the last time we'd tried to throw a balcony party, we'd all gotten fines for excessive noise and vandalising.

(Oh, all right, it had started when Toby wanted some crisps out of the Muggle vending machine, but didn't have his wand on him to just levitate them out. He got spectacularly stuck! In the end we were forced to rip the thing apart, after a lot of screaming and swearing and naturally, our Muggle neighbours weren't too impressed).

The entire pub was packed with people and it wasn't too hard to miss our loud group of friends, most of which I knew and some I didn't know. The party had sort of turned into a leaving party, since that morning Libby herself had skipped up to me, bright and happy and bursting with news,

"Rosie!" she had cried. "You'll _never_ guess what! Go on, guess!"

"Oh, um–"

"Oh, you'll never guess!" Libby had cut in with an impatient air. "Remember how I was telling you about work, how we found those tombs in Rome? Well, turns out that using those Daydream Charms to get past the curses totally worked! They've promoted me to _Head Project Researcher_! I get to quit the café!"

"Oh, my god!"

So our 'just for the hell of it/helping James get off with Libby' party had turned into a 'just for the hell of it, congratulations on getting a promotion and never having to serve coffee again' party. I mean, of course I was still looking out for James, but really, Libby has been at that café too long. She had been wanting to quit years ago, but could never afford to. This new leg in her life was exciting and I was genuinely happy for her!

But, well, James is my cousin and in the end, he was my number one bloke; the one who would always be on my side, no matter what the hell happened. Let's face it, Al would always back his fiancée and once upon a time, I might have thought Scorpius would be the one to bail me out, but nope! James is now that bloke!

So I had to fake a little sympathy for him since naturally, James hadn't been all too thrilled about this snag in his life plans.

"Quitting? What the bloody hell?!" he was grumbling to me, sat at one of the Leaky Cauldron's tables. With his black robe and currently bald head, I had almost thought he had come to the party dressed as a monk. It only took two more seconds to realise that he had actually come dressed as Lord Voldemort.

A genius, James is not.

"Well, it serves you right for dithering around for so long," I told him, giving him a weird look when I yet again noticed his bald head. "And seriously, _Lord Voldemort_? We're trying to go for _attractive_ here, not deranged psychopath who killed innocent people and tortured our parents!"

"I was actually going for funny," James told me. "Besides, who the hell are _you_ supposed to be?"

"Seriously? Next time there's a car boot sale going down at the reserve, I am going to buy you a second hand pellyvision!"

It hadn't originally been my idea to have a fancy dress theme, but James had insisted that it would make him less nervous and, well, the fact that James was nervous at all left me baffled enough to agree. After aimless brainstorming that first night, I had thought of nothing interesting, until Bea suggested we have a _Doctor Who_ marathon.

"This has _got_ to be my favourite episode!" Bea had said happily, watching the Doctor and his blond companion running around, trying not to get eaten by a werewolf. The show had been going in England forever and it was on about its twentieth season or something, but Bea and I had taken a liking to the first companion of the re-vamped series. "Y'know, I think my dad has a trench coat like the Doctor's …"

"That's it!" I had cried. "Bea, you have to be the Doctor to the party!"

"Ok!" Bea had simply agreed, since she'd been unable to think of any ideas either. "But what about you?"

"Well, if you're the Doctor, I have to be your Rose, don't I?"

So I was currently dressed as companion, Rose Tyler, like in the werewolf episode, of course. Basically, I wore a dungaree-skirt, a purple t-shirt with a crown on it and black leggings. I had also tried to charm my hair blond for the night, but I had a feeling that the red would start showing through within the hour. Bea was currently chatting with Trevor, sat on Al's knee. While Al was dressed completely in black, with a t-shirt covering his face and nun-chucks in his pocket (he was apparently a Muggle ninja or whatever), Bea had indeed stolen her dad's brown trench coat and transfigured a shirt and trousers into a brown, pinstriped suit. She'd even given herself sideburns and carried around a home-made sonic screwdriver. Trevor, on the other hand, didn't even look like he was in costume, unless you counted the fact that he was shirtless and had made antlers grow out of his head. Apparently he was the 'front half of a centaur' but his back half (Toby) was currently snogging some random girl in the corner of the pub, so Trevor had to make do with what he had.

The other costumes were actually rather impressive, considering this wasn't an altogether serious party! I hadn't exactly planned on inviting Harley, but apparently she and Trevor were back together again or something, so he'd dragged her along, dressed as a flapper from the 1920s. I'd invited my brother and his girlfriend as thanks for helping me with the whole being Cesario thing, and he was currently hobbling around, dressed as a mermaid. Like actually, he had wrapped a blue bed sheet around his legs so he could barely walk, but it was cut into a beautiful tail at the bottom. Caroline was a pirate, which I think seemed a bit backwards, but my brother never has been exactly normal. Jo had dressed as a witch, or well, the traditional Muggle sense of the word, like with a warty nose and everything; a couple of Libby's curse-breaker friends were dressed like mummies, ghosts and for some reason, someone in their pyjamas. Libby herself had arrived, dressed like William Shakespeare, and Scorpius hadn't even bothered to show up.

Not that I cared.

"I'm Rose Tyler, from _Doctor Who_! And I'll have you know that I worked hard for this costume!" I told James. "I had to go trawling through Muggle thrift shops for two days straight!"

"Look, as happy as I am that you made a sale," James gave me one of his desperate looks. "You're not exactly helping! She's right over there, what do I _do_?!"

"Um, talk to her?" I urged. "I dunno, buy her a drink, ask her if she's excited about her new job, anything that sounds vaguely normal! Basically, just think about what you'd normally like to say: _then don't_."

"Cheers, Rosie," James drained his own drink before getting up. "Ah, hell, I'm going to die …"

"That's the spirit!" I said, cheerfully.

I watched James unsuccessfully try to chat up Libby for a bit, which was kind of painful, but she was still talking to him at any rate. At least he hadn't completely crashed and burned. I was just wondering whether I should actually try and talk to someone, or whether James would consider it my sole duty to watch him choke, when Harley of all people came and sat down next to me.

"… Harley, are you lost?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not the first time you've asked me that," Harley said, her gorgeous black hair twisted back underneath a lacy band with a feather stuck in it. She looked like a movie star, whereas I looked like … well, a chavvy London girl who'd been chased by a werewolf all night. "So, I hear Scorpius has a new girlfriend!"

"Ah. I see. You're here to gloat."

"What?" Harley was grinning now, which was something I wanted to smack off her face. "Me? Gloat? Why would I ever do that? It's not as if I'd be _finally_ getting payback for all those snide comments you gave me back at Hogwarts!"

"I get it! I was a complete bitch to you!" I cried. "D'you have to rub it in?"

"Yes," Harley said, simply. "So, new girlfriend! Bet you nearly killed him, right?"

"I threw plates at him." Like I'm going to do to you, soon.

Harley laughed. "Well, sometimes, he needs a good thrashing. What?" she added, when gave her a quizzical look. "Boy can be put in his place sometimes!"

"You don't care if he's put in his place, all you care is that he's not with me anymore."

"True," Harley shrugged. "You two were destructive when you were together; you were bound to explode eventually and I'd be left behind to pick up the pieces. Plus, you're miserable, so I'm happy!"

"Cheers," I muttered, taking a large gulp of my drink, hoping that the Firewhiskey would burn Scorpius from my brain. I didn't know what to think about Harley's words; destructive was certainly one way to describe us, but did that seriously mean we had always been destined to _explode_?

I decided it would just be easier to change the subject and said, "Well. I see you and Trev are back together."

It was Harley's turn to look bewildered. "You care?" she asked.

"I love Trevor! It's like you and Scorpius: every time you dump his arse, I'm at the other end, having to listen to him whine!" I told her. "I mean, as much as a cow I think you are, even _I_ know that you're perfect for each other. I just wish you'd see that."

Harley scowled at me. "Stop sticking your nose in, you don't know a thing," she snapped.

"You wouldn't even _be_ at this party if it weren't for him!" I scoffed.

"Yes, I would! Like it or not, but these are my friends too," Harley told me. "I actually love Libby as much as you!"

"Come off it, five years ago you didn't even know her full name!"

"Yeah, but that was _five years ago_," Harley reiterated. She nodded over at where Libby was sort of being stalked by James as she chatted to her mummy-curse-breaker friend. "A lot can happen in five years. Things change. Old friends are lost, new friends are gained."

I thought about that. I had lost a few old friends from my Hogwarts days; Geraldine Pewter I see once a year at the most, if she can make it to a _Twelfth Night_ party. I hadn't spoken to all the others in Ravenclaw with me at all and even Danny Parker and Lucas Nott I had once been on sort of speaking terms with at some point, thanks to them being Scorpius's best friends. But even he didn't really see them anymore, only occasionally when they could get together.

On the other hand, I'd made several new friends as well; cheerful Gerald and shy Ally for starters. Jono, Sarah, Margo, Bethany and everyone else on my Healer course. I could talk to Hugo's girlfriend, Caroline, for ages at family events. And even Harley. She was someone I had hated at school, but now … well, I still hated her, but it was more because of her personality now, rather than just jealousy over her relationship with Scorpius, which was a start.

"Do you have a point?" I asked, scathingly. "You can just piss off, if not."

"Oh, trust me, I came over here for a reason," Harley got a look in her eye that made me slightly afraid. It was the look that reminded me that she was a Slytherin, since it said, _you are going to give me what I want now_. "I hear that your … _cousin_, got to go on that Healer course with the boys."

My heart spluttered out of control. Holy shit. She knew. She KNEW. How the hell could she know about that?! Even I hadn't thought about the Healer course in a while, thanks to the shop explosion sort of wiping it from my mind! Woe, calm down, Rose, she hasn't admitted to anything yet …

SHE KNOWS!

MY LIFE IS ENDING!

"Er," I practically squeaked. Damn it. My voice always does that when I'm nervous. "Yeah, he did."

"It's funny, I don't think I've ever heard of 'Cesario' before," Harley was smirking now and I had to thank god that her hair was swept up under that band. If she had flicked, I might have just gone insane. "Tell me, which auntie and uncle does he belong to again?"

"Uncle Charlie," I blurted out at once. He was my only uncle who never married. Always said that girls freaked him out and that he couldn't handle them, not like with dragons. "Illegitimate love-child, so that's why we never talk about him."

"Uh, huh." It was obvious Harley didn't believe me.

"Seriously!" Oh, dear. I'm starting to ramble. "They had this circus going on in Romania and Uncle Charlie went along to watch. That was where he met … Perdita," Am I actually coming out with this? "It was love at first sight! But, alas, their one night of passion resulted in a baby on his doorstep, nine months later, accompanied only with a note saying, 'he's yours'. So Uncle Charlie raised him as his own – which, er, I supposed he had to, since he _was_ his – and Cesario Weasley became a Healer! Only, because he was, y'know, a bastard child and all that, Grandma Molly frowned upon him and we were told _never_ to speak of his existence. Oh, and he's gay."

Harley just blinked at me. Then she said, "So you're saying … your uncle had a love affair with a circus freak and had a gay son called Cesario?"

"Yes. Yes, that is what I'm saying." Good god, I'm so pathetic.

"Well," Harley gave me that smirk again. "You and I both know that of course you'd be desperate enough to swing a story _that_ full of bollocks, _Cesario_," I'm dead. Harley knew it, too, if her face was anything to go by. "So I'm here to tell you that if you don't want your '_cousin_'s story to get out, then you'll lay off Scorpius. You'll stop screaming at him, you'll stop throwing plates at him, you'll stop breaking his heart every time you walk into a room," Harley was deadly serious now as my neck slowly went bright red. "Leave him alone, or you won't have a job anymore." And she took my drink from my hand and knocked it back before stalking off through the crowd.

* * *

Scorpius _had_ to have told her. He's the only person who knew who would be stupid enough to tell Harley! I swear, I'm going to _kill_ that bastard! Y'know, just as soon as he gets here! I asked Al what was taking him so long and he mentioned Sophie, but realised that the redness had spread up my face in anger, so quickly changed tack and claimed he had no idea. Seriously, I was almost starting to think that Scorpius had just made up his relationship with Sophie, since I'd still only ever caught a glance of her as she was leaving Scorpius's hospital room. That was about when Libby showed up with a camera, wanting pictures, so I forced my mind off my crazy problems and kept her happy for a bit, slowly seething on the inside and ready to snap at any second.

While Libby was re-loading another film, James caught my eye from nearby and he mouthed, 'Help!' Fred had just shown up, dressed as a gladiator and was currently starting up some random drinking game to roaring approval, so it was no wonder James figured he was fighting a losing battle. The appearance of his Idiot Twin was only going to do more damage than good. However, to my surprise, James did of course act like an idiot, but he was … kind of a _cool_ idiot. Like, his jokes were actually funny, rather than disgusting. Once or twice, I actually saw Libby glancing at him sideways in confusion.

There may be hope yet!

As I watched the game unfold, I glanced through the crowd. I saw that Scorpius had arrived and I nearly leapt out of my chair. He was _here_ (for some reason dressed as a kind of superhero called 'Superman'. Yeah, original name) and blimey he was hot with his underwear on the outside like that. Not that I planned on telling him. Either way, the sight of him made me scarper for the deepest, darkest corners of the Leaky Cauldron, ducking around a huge hen party and stepping over Toby who was busy getting off with probably his third girl of the night and eventually crashing into some girl over by the bathrooms.

"Oh, sorry." I said, distractedly.

"No, it's fine," the girl said. I noticed that she was dressed as a goddess, like the Greek kind, with a white sheet draped over her and laurel wreaths in her pretty blond hair. Was she here for the party? She looked kind of familiar. Wait … "So go on then, who are you hiding from?" she asked.

"Ah, no one," I quickly said. "Just my mates. They're deranged. Kind of need a breather every now and then. You?"

"To be honest?" the girl gave a shaky smile. "My boyfriend's psycho ex. We only just arrived and I know she's here somewhere!"

I simply stared at her. _She_ was Sophie. Like actually, honest to god _Sophie_. From my brief glimpse of her at St Mungo's, I'd sort of played up her appearance in my head, since all I could remember was that she was blond. As a result, I'd been picturing some sort of slapper in a short skirt and see-through top, but his girl … well, she looked like a _goddess_. Her dark blond hair was so straight, just like I'd always wished mine was, and her bright blue eyes would have made even Libby drool. This girl worked in Muggle Relations? Of course Scorpius would pick someone the complete opposite to me.

"… psycho?" was the only thing I could think to ask.

"Yeah, Rose or something," Sophie said with a nervous laugh and I felt my eyes narrow. Clearly, she couldn't tell it was the same girl from St Mungo's through the charmed hair. "He said he normally wouldn't come, but he wanted me to meet her so she'd stop trying to throw herself at him. How sad is that?" she added and I felt my eye twitch.

"Actually–"

"I mean, it's a bit desperate, don't you think?" Sophie rambled on while in the background, my mates all chanted and cheered. "But apparently she's crazy or something. Can you believe that she _actually threw plates at him_ when he told her about me?"

"Well–"

"I mean, she clearly needs help, but since she sounds like a lunatic, I'm going to try and put off seeing her for as long as possible! Oh, god, I'm so sorry!" she finally seemed to realise that she was still ranting and raving. "Here I am, unloading all this to a total stranger! Sorry, my name's Sophie!" She held out her hand.

"Yeah, I'm Rose." I said, shaking her hand.

Sophie's face was bloody priceless. Her skin went completely white and her hand tensed up as she said, "Nice to meet you, Ro–! _O-Ohhhhh_ …" She honestly looked like she was going to throw up. "Holy shit … um, god, I'm so sorry–!"

"Sophie!" Scorpius's voice called and she quickly let go of my hand, like I might suddenly leap on her and start drinking her blood or something. Scorpius held two drinks in his hand and with a pang, I realised that one was for Sophie. That other drink used to be for me. "C'mon, you're missing all the fun out – ah," He noticed me, standing with my arms folded. "Crap. Um, Rose, have you met–?"

"Oh, yes, met dear Sophie here!" I said, cheerfully. "Must say, she's quite a catch! I've never been called psycho before! Oh, is that for me? Thanks!" I grabbed the second bottle off him before he could even react and I stalked off into our crowd of friends.

Honesty. How could he even have the guts to _bring_ her here? To parade her around in front of me? He might as well have written a giant, flashing sign that screamed, 'I, Scorpius Malfoy, am totally over Rose Weasley and look at my awesome new girlfriend! Isn't she so much cooler than Rose?!' It would have been less obvious at any rate.

"Rose!" Scorpius's voice suddenly said, darting through the crowd after me. "For god's sake–"

"Sod of, Scorpius!" I snarled back. "Go back to Sophie, I'm sure she's missing you – HEY!"

He had grabbed my arm and veered me through the crowd, out the doors and into the small alley that magically led to Diagon Alley. There was no one else out here, except for a tabby cat, pawing through one of the dustbins. Scorpius finally let me go once we were outside and I yelled, "What is your PROBLEM?"

"What's _your_ problem?!" Scorpius yelled back. "I mean, seriously, you can't even _pretend_ to like her?"

"No!" I cried. "Look, I'm sure she's the bloody love of your life or whatever, but it's barely even been three months since we broke up! You parading her around here, it's like a kick to the stomach! You're basically saying that you didn't give a crap about our relationship!"

"Stop being stupid, of _course_ I cared–"

"Right," I snorted. "I'll believe that when you actually wait a respectful amount of time before leaping into bed with another woman. Or should I say _girl_, she's got to be, what? Seventeen?"

"She's twenty, only two years younger than us," Scorpius grumbled. "You would know that if you even bothered to talk to her like a normal human being, but oh, I forgot! Rose Weasley is barely even human, let alone _normal_!"

"I'm absolutely serious, don't make me start throwing things at you again," I threatened. "And what the hell did you have to tell her that for? She thinks I'm a bloody _psychopath_ thanks to you!"

"That's because you are!" Scorpius yelled back. "And a freaking deranged one at that!"

I gave a frustrated yell. "It's the idiots like you in my life that _make_ me go completely psychotic!" I shouted at him. "Believe it or not, but I was actually sane before I met you! I seriously hope dear Sophie knows what she's getting into, 'cause she's going to have–"

"Just shut up!" Scorpius cut over me. "You don't know her! You don't have the right to get all pissed off at me, just because I've moved on! There's no official time limit on how long someone has to wait before they can go for it with another girl! Unlike _someone_, Sophie actually told me how she felt!"

"And you think I didn't?!" I shrieked. "That's rich, coming from the bloke who ignored me for two months, just because I kissed him!"

"_Seriously_?" Scorpius just scoffed at me. "_That's_ what you're throwing back at me? C'mon, Rose, even I know that you can do better than that."

I was absolutely seething, but unfortunately, Rose Tyler didn't have anything on her that would kill a werewolf and also potentially work on Scorpius Malfoy as well. "I've got one then," I snarled. "Why did you tell Harley about how I snuck onto the boys-only Healer course?"

Thankfully, Scorpius had the decency to look ashamed. "Oh, come on, you're mad at me for _that_?" he said, though he didn't quite meet my eye. "She's my best friend, I tell her all sorts of stuff! Besides, it's not like you two hurl punches at each other anymore–"

"No! _Correction_," I said. "You want to know what our relationship is like? She just threatened to _tell on me_ if I didn't do what she wanted! She _blackmailed_ me, Scorpius! And you're telling me that she's your _best friend_?"

"You're just exaggerating now–"

"You want to bet?!" I hissed. "You go in there and if you reckon she's telling the truth when you confront her, then fine! I'll believe you! I'll even pay you, if that's what you want. But if you think she's lying, even if it's just the tiniest hint, then you have to do something about it. We got a deal?"

I almost thought he was going to tell me that we weren't those kids anymore, who made ridiculous bets without really thinking them through. But to my surprise, he held out his hand and said, "Fine!"

Just as we were shaking hands, Trevor stuck his head in. I let go of Scorpius's hand so quickly, you might have thought I'd been electrocuted. Trevor eyed us with some scepticism, but just shook his centaur antlers and said, "Erm, if you two are quite finished, Libby wants to, um, make a speech …"

I pushed straight past both Scorpius and Trevor, making my way back into the Leaky Cauldron to where Libby was currently standing on a chair, a glass of wine in her hands and with our friends all crowded around her. Scorpius stalked off straight back to Sophie's side, who Bea had already politely introduced herself to (the traitor). Sophie accidentally caught my eye and she visibly cringed behind Bea. I only sort of felt bad.

"Do I even _want_ to know what you two were rowing about?" Trevor muttered to me as we joined our friends.

"Not even a little bit." I muttered back.

"Hi everyone!" Libby was saying, even the rest of the pub glancing up to watch the kind of tipsy girl dressed in her Elizabethan best address our party guests. "As you all know, I'm Libby! I just want to say thank you for coming tonight and celebrating with me! I love you all, so go and get drunk! I'll be right behind you!"

Toby 'woo'ed and several of us laughed. That was when I caught James' eye and he gave me that desperate look of his. Coming from the made-up face of Lord Voldemort, it was kind of unnerving. I just shrugged at him as if to say, _it's your shot. Take it or leave it. _

"And the best part of the news," Libby was concluding her thank you speech. "I don't have to serve coffee anymore!" She cheered and everyone cried out with her. All except James. He suddenly looked like he was about to die, but not without giving someone everything he had.

"Oh, god." I said as James hurried forward to where Libby was currently laughing with Jo, Toby and the others. Trevor looked at me, confusedly.

"What is it?" he asked, but I was already running through the crowd. I had a funny feeling I knew what James was about to do and like hell was I going to miss it. Did I support James making an idiot of himself in front of all our friends? No. But did I support him expressing his feelings, no matter the crazy way in which he did it?

Yes.

"Libby!" James said and she turned around. "Lib, I have to tell you something!"

"What?" she asked.

"God, I can't watch this!" I yelled, yet I couldn't tear my eyes away. Trevor looked as bewildered as ever as Libby raised an eyebrow and everyone else stared like it was a brilliant episode of _Doctor Who_. But James only seemed to have eyes for Libby. He ignored every single word I said, as he blurted out,

"Libby, I love you!"

Libby looked like the world was coming to an end. Impossible things were happening! Things like Toby picking his nose in private, Scorpius having an ordinary girlfriend and James being in love with her. Everyone else just muttered under their breath, Jo clearly trying not to laugh as James seemed to realise what he'd said.

Then, it seemed to _really_ hit him and he turned and scarpered.

"What the … _what_?" Libby said, her eyes about to pop out of her head.

"Er, Lib?" I moved forward and chivvied off all the other nosy buggers that happened to be our mates. "You all right? You're not going to faint on me, are you?"

"… what?"

"I believe 'what' is that James told you he loves you." I said, helpfully.

Libby just stared. "_What_?"

"Libby," I said, very clearly. "I admit, James is a bit stupid sometimes. But when someone yells at you 'I love you', then runs off, that's generally your cue to go after them. Just saying."

Libby just stared at me for a second. Then, something seemed to click in her head and suddenly, Libby was screaming, "JAMES! WAIT!" and tearing off after him through the crowd.

I grinned. I think my work may just be done here. Unfortunately, fate wasn't done with me just yet. A hand tapped my shoulder lightly and I spun to see that the wonderful Sophie had hesitantly approached me. "Oh," I said. "Yeah?"

"Er, look," she said, twisting her sheet in her fingers. "I just wanted to make sure that we're ok. I mean … I get that you and Scorpius have a lot of history," I just raised an eyebrow; history doesn't even cover it, girl. "And I totally get that you kind of have to still be in his life, what with him living with your best friend and also you two being Best Man and Maid of Honour at Al and Bea's wedding. I'm fine with it. I even hope that we can be friends someday. So … are we ok?" She gave a tentative smile. "I swear, I don't _really_ think you're psychotic."

I stared at her for a moment. I couldn't tell if she actually really was this sweet, or if she was just being a total manipulative bitch. I wanted to assume the latter, but knew Bea would tell me off for that, so I didn't make any leaping assumptions.

Well, yet.

"Just don't hurt him," I said, a little bit harsher than I intended. "I'm serious. Hurt him and I will freaking _kill_ you."

She didn't really seem to have an answer for that, so she just nodded and stayed silent. I took that as my cue to leave and I headed off through the crowd, ignoring Bea calling out to me and Scorpius's glare. Was threatening to kill her just a little bit crazy? Probably. But that's just me, isn't it?

I was starting to think that this party had been a total waste when I saw a _very_ strange sight. Two people were wrapped together in the corner of the pub, near the front doors. Another glance told me that it was James and Libby and my friend had thrown her arms around my cousin's black robed-waist, her back against the wall as she and James kissed furiously.

I couldn't help but laugh.

It really was a remarkable sight to see Lord Voldemort and William Shakespeare snogging, especially when they were going at it at _that_ rate. But, well, everyone had always assumed that Shakespeare was gay anyway and Lord Voldemort was always going to be a bit of a question mark whenever his sexuality was concerned.

Somehow … they made it work.

Conclusion to finally meeting Sophie, James and Libby getting off, Harley blackmailing me and Scorpius and I fighting like crazy:

-As much as I want to like Sophie, I don't think I will ever warm up to her.

-Same goes for Scorpius, only with much stronger feelings.

-I'm going to _murder_ Harley. Seriously, I've started writing up a plan and everything.

-It hadn't taken long for the rest of the pub to figure out where their guest of honour had got to. I swear, Al had nearly thrown up when he saw his brother and his good friend together, but an hour later, he was swearing blind that he always thought they'd make 'a cute couple'.

Yeah, whatever.

Rose: 19, Scorpius: 18.

(Yet another couple have found happiness, thanks to yours truly! Now if only I could sort out my own bloody life …).

* * *

A/N: So James and Libby, Sophie, Harley and Scorpius … new love, old love, exs, blackmail … a lot happened here! I know that the last two chapters have been a bit dull, but hopefully this makes up for it! Next time, we will see Rosie's 23rd birthday and we'll get to know Sophie a bit more, so you can look forward to that. :)

Thanks once again to all those who review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please let me know what you think!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	21. The Twenty Third One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, birthdays, or Ron and Hermione Weasley.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

_This chapter is dedicated to Sophie (or rather, my friend Sophie, not Scorpius's Sophie) for suggesting the title 'The Twenty Third One' for this chapter. Thank you so much, Sophie! _

* * *

Chapter 20: The Twenty Third One_. _

"Roooooooosieeeeeeeeeee!"

"Ughhhh …"

"Roooosie! Rosie! Get up! Happy birthday!"

"Go away."

"Rosie!" Bea thankfully stopped bouncing up and down on my bed, only to jump down next to me. I groaned into my pillow and rolled over to face away from her. "Please get up? I have a present for you! I can't believe it, you're 23 today! God, we're _old_," Bea jumped over me I could see her pull a face. You wouldn't think _she_ was old; maybe about five. "I'm next! But today's _your_ birthday, so you have to GET UP!"

Moaning, I eventually let Bea rip my duvet off me and I practically rolled off my bed. I was normally an early riser, thanks to my crazy work schedule often starting at ungodly hours of the morning. However, I was being put on nightshifts for our current work cycle, so I had to spend twelve hours in one of the children's wards in Magical Diseases. I basically spent all night cleaning and making sure the kids were ok as they slept, but for some reason, I was finding that I liked it. Some kids would be cured pretty quickly, but there were some who had a sickness that stuck with them permanently and there was even one boy who practically lived at St Mungo's. Despite their grim situation, those kids made my job amazing.

But I was still _not_ going to tolerate being woken up at ten in the morning, after only being able to crash around seven when I got home from work.

"Bea, I've only had about three hours sleep!" I complained as she dragged me by the hand down the hallway. "Couldn't you have at least waited until mid-day–?"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROSIE!" several people suddenly yelled and I leapt a mile once we entered our lounge. For some reason, my mum, dad and little brother were all standing together, holding what looked like a homemade sign that flashed what they had just yelled at me in different colours.

"What the hell?" I asked, pushing back my mess of hair and making sure that I was seeing things properly.

"It's my birthday present for you!" Bea told me, throwing her arms around my waist. "I knew, what with you working nights for the past three weeks, you hadn't been able to see your family in ages, so I organised it with them and got them to come down here and spent the whole day with you!"

"Happy birthday, sweetheart." Mum said, her arm around Hugo, and Dad holding a giant picnic basket.

"I … I'm still in my pyjamas …" I said, honestly quite touched and I hugged my best friend back. "Bea, thank you."

"You're welcome," she said, letting go of me so she could shove me towards my family. "So go on, have fun! Oh, and we're having a birthday party for you tonight!"

"Oh, no, Bea–" I tried to protest, but my family was already crushing me in a huge Rosie-sandwich.

It wasn't that I didn't _want_ my birthday being celebrated. I mean, yeah, woo, I'm 23 now, so bloody old that I'm surprised Bea didn't just get me a wheelchair for my present. But the last party I'd been to was James' Desperate Party last month, and that hadn't exactly ended well.

Well, from my point of view at any rate. Blackmailed, insulted and yelled at all in one night! But from James' point of view, the night couldn't have gone more brilliantly. He might have told me thank you at some point, but soon after getting off with Libby in the corner, the two had completely disappeared and the entire month, I'd barely even seen them. Probably too busy shacking up in their little love cave or whatever the hell without so much as a thank you card!

"Happy birthday, Rosie!" Hugo was saying brightly, pulling back along with Dad, so now it was just Mum squeezing the life out of me. "Sorry about Bea waking you, we were willing to wait a few hours, but she sort of insisted and–"

"Hugo, it's fine!" I said. Then, I tried to push Mum away, gasping, "Mum! Squeezing! Too tight!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mum pulled away thankfully, sweeping back my hair so she could see my face. "I just can't believe my baby is 23 already! Ron, we're getting old." she added to Dad.

My dad just grinned at me and I could tell he was resisting the urge to mush up my hair. You never would have thought that Dad had just turned 49 last month from the way he acts; in that respect, he's probably like your average 12 year old. While Mum's turning 50 this year and she actually acts her age, with her now collar-length curly hair, Dad will bounce around, jabbering about the latest evil wizard he's interrogated. Only his greying hair and lined face would make you believe he was his actual age.

"Aw, Hermione, you know you're only as young as you feel," Dad said. "How old do _you_ feel, Rosie?"

"About 15, to be honest."

"There, see?" Dad said. "We're far from getting on a bit! Eh, Hugo?"

"I'm just starving." Hugo answered, picking up the picnic basket from the floor and heading for the door. "C'mon!"

"You had breakfast an hour ago!" Mum sighed.

"Your point?"

* * *

Once I was actually dressed, ready, and had said another thank you to Bea, my family and I headed out to the reserve that was down the road from our block of flats for our picnic. Though of course today couldn't go without _any_ hiccups and sure enough, we happened to step outside into the hallway the exact same time as Scorpius did.

"Oh, just what I wanted to see this morning." I said.

"Here we go …" Hugo muttered.

Mum and Dad looked slightly awkward as Scorpius just scoffed, carrying a large bag of washing under his arm. "Lovely to see you, too." he said, rolling his eyes.

"Don't use sarcasm against me, that's cheating," I told him. "Have a good day! Hope you get hit by a bus!"

"_Rose_!" Mum scolded and I just turned and stormed for the stairs. I was failed to be chastised however, since Dad had snorted, "Nice one!" and slapped me a high-five as I walked past. Unfortunately, Scorpius rushed forward as well, apparently determined to beat me, and reached the door to the stairs at the same time as me.

"What the–? GAH!" I yelped as he practically bashed me over the head with his washing to get through the door first. I slammed him back against the wall in retaliation and he yelled, "Oi!" We continued to struggle in some bizarre wrestling match as we both tried to get through the door first. "Would you stop being so bloody pathetic?!"

"_You're_ the pathetic one, trying to get through the door first!"

"Y'know, I was actually going to suck up my pride and wish you happy birthday, but I don't think I will now!" Scorpius scowled at me. We seemed to have lodged ourselves in the doorway, Scorpius's washing trapped between us preventing either of us from moving any further into the stairwell.

"Oh, like hell, you so just made that up!" I told him, kicking him in the shin in hopes that he'd recoil out of the way. "What the hell are you even doing here? Would have thought you'd be at Sophie's or something!"

"You're not really helping yourself in sounding any less jealous, Rose," Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Just move!"

"YOU move!"

"I've got an idea!" Hugo suddenly stormed forward and kicked Scorpius's bag of washing. The force made Scorpius and I both go crashing through the doorway and stumbling into the stairwell. "There we go! Mum, Dad, we can get going now!"

I glanced back and saw Mum and Dad just standing there in the corridor, apparently having just stared at the debacle in he stairwell with half-shocked, half-bemused expressions.

Yeah, probably not my finest hour.

* * *

"Rosie, are you going to explain what happened back there with Scorpius?" Mum asked me a little while later as we strolled through the reserve.

"Back where?" I asked, even though I obviously knew what she was talking about. I made the mistake of catching Mum's eye and I quickly added, "OH! You mean back in the stairwell? That was nothing, nothing at all …"

"Rosie," Mum sighed. Dad and Hugo didn't seem to be listening as they walked on ahead of us; in fact, Hugo had pointed out an ice cream van and was currently dragging Dad over by the hand, like he truly was a little kid again. "You were squabbling like a pair of ten year olds! I don't think I've ever seen you two act like that since the first time I picked you up from Platform Nine and Three Quarters after your first-year!"

I remembered the incident quite vividly. I had happily run out onto the platform to greet my family, having completely abandoned my trunk in the middle of everyone's path. When I went back to get it, however, it was to find that Scorpius had written 'Weasley Monster' on it with him laughing at me. Despite the mediocre insult (trust me, the real humdingers came in the later years), I had lashed out and pushed him. Scorpius had yelled out for his mum (he was always a mummy's boy. Astoria would have honestly been proud of him) and basically, there had been a rather large argument in the middle of the platform.

Mum had made me apologise, even though I _clearly_ didn't start it. "Aw, geez, Mum," I muttered. "Did you have to bring that up?"

"If you're going to behave like a first-year again, then I will!"

"Well, you know what, inwardly I still feel like a first-year!" I found myself snapping. "I don't know why they invented birthdays!" And I stalked off after Dad, Hugo and the ice cream.

I felt sort of bad about yelling at Mum, but only occasionally had I been able to feel close to her. I was always Daddy's little girl. I might have my mother's brains, but I also had my dad's Weasley brashness. If I had a problem, I always went to him because I just felt like he understood my Rose-ness a lot more than rational Mum. I can only think of two incidences where I spilled out everything to her, and the first was when I had first told my parents that Scorpius and I were going out and the only other option was being murdered by my dad. Naturally, Mum was the safer choice there. The second had been just after Scorpius and I broke up.

Is it sad that both occasions were because of him?

But Mum didn't push the subject of mine and Scorpius's childish brawl in the stairwell, which I was thankful for. She always seemed to know when I just needed to cool off until I could talk more sense. After Dad and Hugo got their ice creams, we chose a sunny spot in the reserve so we could have our picnic.

The reserve was conveniently very close to our flat and it was a great place just to get outdoors. There weren't many green, leafy places like this in central London, so we took advantage of the warm weather as much as we could. It wasn't very large, one big main path leading through the middle and connecting the two blocks on each side, but it was big enough to attract joggers, ice cream vans and families going on picnics, just like us.

Today, there were heaps of people, just normal Londoners walking their dogs or couples holding hands. The only downside to this place was the potholes; I had once gotten a twisted ankle after going for a jog here (granted, it had been about four in the morning and I was very _extremely_ drunk at the time, but still). Dad spread out the blanket and Mum tried not to make it noticeable that she was pulling that seemed like an entire three course meal out of the one measly basket.

"Are you _trying_ to break the Statue of Secrecy?" I asked when eventually, Mum pulled out an entire birthday cake.

"Shhh," Mum told me. "I've cast a few spells of my own. No one's looking."

"Who cares, Rosie?" Hugo told me, already sticking into the savoury pies. "It's cake! Go on, blow out the candles!"

Even though my mother was a lot of handle, my brother was currently stuffing his face and my dad was … well, my dad, I realised that this had to have honestly been the best present Bea could've gotten me. I really had missed my family so much, even if they are a bunch of weirdos. I laughed at Dad's jokes, listened to Mum's latest work story and even endured all three of them belting out 'Happy birthday dear Rosieeeeeee … _happy birthday to you_!' Of course Hugo practically ate half the cake himself and Dad asked me how work was.

"It's actually brilliant!" I told him. "I mean, everyone's been so high-strung this year, considering it's our last training year, but this last cycle has been really great. I'm working in children's diseases and I really love it."

"Reckon that's where you want to work once you get full-Healer?" Dad asked.

"I might not get full-Healer," I reminded him. "But yeah … it's only taken me five years, but I think it might be."

"Oh, you'll totally get full-Healer! Do you even get a choice of where you want to work?" Hugo asked me, his mouth full of chocolate cake.

"Depends who you know," I rolled my eyes. "The bloody vultures normally get first picking, generally because they know a few people. They're not technically supposed to, but then they probably weren't technically meant to be on the course in the first place. They tend to overlook that sort of thing. Nah, we kind of just get put wherever and we're supposed to take it, since y'know, it's our first proper job! But I heard rumours that they try to take your preferences into account. Ally wants to work in potion mixing, though I have no idea why. Gerald's still deciding, but if Ally decides to work overseas, he'll probably go with her."

"Oh, is that that couple you were talking about last time we saw you?" Mum asked me with a smile.

"Rosie always has the best gossip." Hugo said.

I grinned. "Yeah, that's them. Finally got together when the shop exploded. How's the fixing going, by the way?" I felt really bad, considering that I had only managed to make it down once to help out my uncle rebuild his shop.

"Really well!" Dad told me. "They reckon it'll be ready for re-opening soon! Fred and James will be banned completely, of course."

"Is Uncle George actually kicking them out?" Hugo laughed.

"Ah, I'm pretty sure he was just joking," Dad said. Then, he really thought about it and added, "Er, well, maybe."

"Well, you can tell him that I'll come and help with the finishing touches," I said, determinedly. "And that I'll be there for the re-opening, of course."

Dad agreed and then he did something that generally made me duck for cover; he glanced at Mum for permission to say something. It wasn't often he did it, but it usually meant that Dad wanted to say something wildly inappropriate. Apparently, they had established _the look_ right back when they first started going out, but sometimes his words would slip through. This time, instead of shaking her head frantically, Mum actually appeared to agree.

This was a first. Hugo and I exchanged rather scared looks. This isn't boding well!

"There's also something we wanted to tell you two," Dad said to me and Hugo, Mum encouraging him along. Oh my god, he's going to announce that he wants to be a merman or something. Either that, or Mum's pregnant again. "We're not really sure how you'll feel about it, so we weren't going to do it on your birthday, Rosie, but this is the first time we've been a family together for over a month, so …"

"So we're telling you now," Mum said, gently. "We hope this won't come as too big of a shock …"

They've decided they're going to join a nudist colony! Or they're going to start selling mine and Hugo's body parts. Actually, no, Hugo's too scrawny. No one would take him, except maybe his stomach; that thing must be huge.

Mum moved to place a hand on Dad's shoulder. Yep, definitely pregnant.

"For Merlin's sake, just say it already!" I cried. "Dad, I promise to love you, no matter what species you are! You want a fish tail, you go for it! Mum, is it a boy or girl?!"

"What?" Mum looked utterly bewildered. "What are you–?"

"Mum, you may not have noticed," Hugo snorted. "But Rosie talks a lot of shit when she's nervous. You're not like, pregnant or something, are you?"

"Oh, god no!" Mum cried and Dad looked shocked. She caught Dad's look and quickly added another, "No! _No_, Ron!" Dad looked significantly better. Mum was almost laughing now. "Rose, Hugo, I know you've always wanted a younger siblings, but trust me, we would have had one years ago if we were going to. Your father decided that two was quite enough."

"Grow up with six siblings and it kind of gets to you …" Dad muttered, still looking rather unsure.

"No, goodness, you two," Mum sighed. "Nor is your father growing a fish tail! We're selling the house, that's what's happening!"

Oh. Not nearly as cool as the merman option, but whatever. Hugo's face completely fell. "What?!" he yelped. "You're selling our _house_? _Why_?"

"It's too big for us," Dad shrugged. "Obviously we needed the space when you two were running around, but now you're all grown up and living your own lives without us. When was the last time you came home, eh?" Dad eyed the two of us and I immediately felt guilty. I had helped drive Mum and Dad out of the only family home we'd lived in.

"But how could you just … sell it?" I said in disbelief. "Just up and _leave_?"

"It was a difficult decision to make," Mum admitted. "But we want somewhere smaller, somewhere out in the countryside where I can finally have that lovey garden I've always wanted! We've been looking at houses nearer to your Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny."

"Don't we get a say in this?" Hugo grumbled, folding his arms in a huff.

"What about all our stuff?" I added.

"We'll keep all your old things," Mum reassured us. "But we've decided, I'm afraid. We would have told you sooner, but we wanted to tell you together as a family."

"So now it's my fault!" I said.

"Oh, Rosie, don't be so dramatic," Mum sighed. "I understand it's your birthday, but–"

"You might get that, but you obviously don't understand what that house means to us!" I snapped back. I jumped to my feet and stormed off before Mum could even call after me. I didn't even really know where I was going, just that I didn't want to have to think about this. I _loved_ our house! It was the place I was taken after I was born, it was the place I would have sleepovers with Al, it was the house I _grew up_ in. How dare they take that away without even asking first?!

"Rosie!" Dad had caught up to me, but I shook off his hand on my arm.

"I don't want to talk to you, Dad!" I said.

"Aw, stop acting like a little girl," Dad slung an arm around me, making me come to a halt underneath a tree just to the side of the reserve's main path. "You're my big 23 year old now! Why are you really so upset?"

I glanced up at my Dad. Back over at the picnic basket, I saw Mum talking to Hugo. He didn't look like he was buying much of what Mum was saying, but Dad deserved to know what I was thinking. "It's just something that hasn't changed," I told him. "My entire life, that house has been the one constant! The one thing that was just always _there _and if you sell it, then who's to say that anything in my life will stay the same again? I've already lost heaps as it is!"

"Look, Rosie, I may not have the sight," Dad told me, leaning against the tree's trunk. I copied him, nestled into his side. "God help us if I did! But I'm pretty certain that there are a lot of things in your life that have been and will _always_ stay the same. Your best friends, for one thing."

He was right. Al and I had been together basically ever since he was born just a few months after me. Bea and I had been inseparable since we were eleven. "And yes, Rosie," Dad continued. "Things are going to change, that's just what happens. But you've got your friends and your family and they are always going to be there for you, as long as they're alive. Even that boy of yours."

I actually scoffed at him. "What, _Scorpius_?" I practically laughed. "You _do_ know he hates me, right?"

Dad snorted. "With him living down the hall and you two still seeing each other every day? Yeah, you're right, he _so_ hates you."

I just stared at my dad. I knew he could be sarcastic at the best of times, but this was just too bizarre. "Dad, you can't stand Scorpius."

"Yeah, sure, he's a little bastard for hurting you," Dad nodded. "And I've never really liked him. Too confident. Bloke should always be able to be brought down a peg or two and that boy never seemed to have a button to press, it annoyed me. But for some reason, you loved him and I reckon he's still hanging around for a reason."

"He has a girlfriend now," I told Dad, bitterly. "Sophie. At first I thought he'd just made her up to spite me, but I've actually met her."

"Even better!" Dad said and I gave up, resting my head against his shoulder. "He hopes that a torrid love affair with another woman will have you screaming with jealousy!"

"… you _are_ hearing yourself, right?" I asked, considering this was my dad talking. He was sounding like he'd just leapt from one of those day-time soap dramas that Al secretly likes watching so much.

"Hey, I got used to him," Dad shrugged, jostling my head and making me look up. "And even after you've broken up, he's still around. That scene in the stairwell this morning? No matter how many girlfriends he may have, I get the feeling that that boy is here to stay. Now are you ready to be good and come back and eat your cake nicely for your mother?"

* * *

Somehow, I had ended up actually listening to my dad and I had thought hard all throughout munching on the delicious cake. Eventually, my brain couldn't take it anymore and I had to stop before I exploded. Instead, I just tried to concentrate on my day with my family. Mum talked about her ideal new house while we wandered London shops together, had a late lunch at a small café and Hugo told me that he'd buy me whatever I wanted for my birthday. Once it was getting late in the evening, I had to tell them goodbye.

"Thank you so much for spending the day with me," I said into my mum's shirt as she hugged me tightly outside my flat. "I didn't mean to go a little crazy, I swear."

"That's quite all right, darling, I'm used to it," Mum said, her smiling showing through her words. She pulled back and kissed me on the cheek. "Happy birthday, my little Rosie."

"I love you."

"Love you, too," Mum said back. "Right, you lot!" she yelled at Dad and Hugo, who both automatically snapped to attention. "Time to let Rosie get ready for her party!"

After some more kisses and goodbyes, Mum and Dad finally left me and Hugo in the corridor. "You going home then?" I asked my brother.

"Nah," He just shrugged with a mischievous grin on his face. "Reckon I'll stay around a bit."

"Ok …" I said, looking at him uneasily. The reason for his grin became apparent when I opened the door to my flat and I had about twenty-odd people packed into my living room scream,

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROSE!"

"What the hell?" I said as everyone cheered, throwing balloons and streamers everywhere and waving the flashing banner around. Once I got over the sheer noise, I started to notice that these people were all my friends; Al and Bea, who were darting forward with grins on their faces, Jo and Toby waving the flag, Trevor waving, many of my St Mungo's mates and even James and Libby had managed to drag themselves from their love-cave. I ended up laughing when Bea ran forward to hug me.

"I know you said you didn't want one, but–"

"I love it," I muttered into her hair. "Thank you."

I knew that Bea must be smiling and I saw over her shoulder Al and the rest of our friends approaching. I made to pull back, but Bea held on, saying something in my ear,

"I know you're hurt at the moment," she whispered. "I kind of hate Scorpius, too. But remember that I will always love you, no matter what."

I tightened my arms around her and tried not to cry. "I know."

Bea pulled away with one last squeeze and she grinned as Al took his turn to throw his arms around me. "C'mon, everyone! Get your drink on, let's party!"

* * *

I'll admit it. I loved my birthday party. Everyone here were people I actually liked and wanted to be around, I was given the weirdest assortment of presents (a 'scrying bowl' from Libby that she had apparently stolen off her recent flatmate who was into 'freaky future stuff' being the one of the more sensible ones) and the cake Bea had got everyone to sing happy birthday around tasted _divine_.

"You didn't make this, did you?" I had asked when cutting up the cake, everyone jostling around for a piece. Several actually paused when I'd asked that.

"Oh, hell no!" Bea had cried and everyone had relaxed. "I bought it at the shop, what's wrong with you?!"

Able to eat without the fear of dying, I happily cut myself a slice, despite it being the second cake I had eaten today. Oh, well, I'm sure there's an upside to having a huge arse somewhere. I was plonked on the sofa and in the middle of devouring it when, much to my surprise, Libby came over, dragging James behind her.

"Loving the party, happy birthday, Rosie!" she said, dropping down next to me to give me an enthusiastic hug. "You're practically an old woman now!"

"I'm surprised you came at all," I told her, almost dropping my cake at the force of her hug, although I thankfully managed to keep hold of it. "Oh, and I'm sorry, you are …?" I added to my cousin. James rolled his eyes, sitting of the arm of the sofa behind Libby.

"Aw, c'mon, I still see you–"

"Um, no, actually!" I pointed out. "I throw a party just for you, you get off with the woman of your dreams and you skip off into the bloody sunset without so much as a thank you!"

James and Libby exchanged looks. Honestly, these two had to be the weirdest couple I've ever seen. The other day, Bea had even pointed out that their couple name would be 'Jabby'. I mean, seriously? It was either that, or Limes! There was no hope for them from the start. But for some reason, they _giggled_. Like, actually. "Well, thank you!" Libby told me. "Sorry it's about a month overdue, but it's not like we've left the flat much. This time, my flatmate decided she was going to move out on her own! Apparently couldn't stand the noise, but the accidental free strip show was _probably_ the last straw."

I promptly choked on my cake and James laughed and leaned down to wrap his arms around Libby's shoulders. "That – that is quite enough information!" I managed to gasp out.

"Hey, we have you to thank for it," James said, kissing Libby on the side of her head. "If you want, we can say it's all your fault!"

"Does Auntie Ginny happen to know about your wonderful new girlfriend?" I asked, having finished the last of my cake.

James' face fell and Libby stifled a laugh. "I'm going to take that as a no …?" I said.

"_No_!" James said, holding out his hands in defence as if was going to attack him or something. "No way! You can't tell her, not yet, _please_? Dad I don't care about, he won't mind, but Mum will go mental!"

"What, because her eldest son has actually found himself a proper girlfriend for the first time in his life?"

"Exactly," James told me. "She'll actually go crazy. Let's face it LL's trawling the world and Al's already getting married! I'm her only chance at any more potential in-laws! Not that I'm suggesting we get married …" he hastily added to Libby, who just snorted.

"My dad didn't care much," she said, shrugging. "Mum … she's a bit of a long story. But my brother was the most interesting and that was mainly so he could hunt James down and punch his face in."

"Look, if you don't want Auntie Ginny to know just yet, I will of course keep your secret," I told my cousin. "You did it for me. Though you _do _know that she will somehow find out, even if you never tell her? Ginny Potter has her ways …"

"I'm hoping to put off that moment until I figure out a way to tell her without her trying to force me down an aisle," James said, rolling his eyes. "But honestly … _thank you_, Rosie. I'm really the happiest I've ever been."

"I think he's exaggerating!" Libby added, but she was grinning and seriously … James was telling the honest to god truth. I could see it in his eyes, the way he never seemed to let go of the girl sitting on front of him. James and Libby somehow got it right and, even better, _made it work_. They might be weird, they might be Jabby, but in the end, they loved each other and it was written all over their faces.

"Uh … Rosie," James began hesitantly. "Did you invite, erm, Scorpius by any chance?"

"No," I said, eyes narrowed. "I didn't even throw this party, that was all Bea. Why?"

"Er, well, I don't want to be the source of more drama, but he's right over there …" James pointed out across the room and I turned to indeed see Scorpius talking to Al near the entrance to the kitchen. I had no idea what the hell he was thinking showing up here, but I felt my blood boil and I knew he was going to get one hell of a tirade once I got over there!

"Excuse me please," I told James and Libby. "I believe there's a scene I must go and cause. Feel free to go and run off back to your little shag-nest!"

"_Rosie_!" Libby called after me, but I was already halfway across the room. My anger had forced my vision basically into one long tunnel, focused on nothing but chewing out Scorpius for even _daring_ to come to my birthday. But, fortunately for him, my path was blocked by yet another person coming to wish me happy birthday.

It was unfortunately for me, since that person turned out to be the wonderful as ever Sophie, Scorpius's new girlfriend.

"Hi, Rose?" she said, tentatively. Without the Greek dress, she looked possibly even more pretty than before, which I hated. Her dark blond hair was so beautifully straight, it made me want to strangle her. Seriously, ever since I could complain, I'd wanted straight hair like that! Not the curly mass of monstrosity that sat on my head now! In her flowery skirt and denim jacket, she made several boys at the party stop and stare. Toby actually walked straight into the coffee table, his mouth hanging open.

"Sophie," I said, trying not to let my bitterness seep in. "What're you doing here?"

"I came with Scorpius," she said, gesturing behind us to where said Scorpius seemed to have noticed me chatting to his girlfriend. I wasn't surprised at the look of _oh, shit_ on his face. "Trust me, we're only here because Scorpius needed to talk to Al! We were meant to be going out, but–!"

"Don't worry, I'm going to murder him later," I growled darkly. Then I noticed Sophie looking at me like I was about to cut her leg off or something and I said, "Oh, come on, I'm not going to kill _you_."

"You're not?" she asked.

"No, _he's_ the one whose life is in danger!" I said, pointing behind me to where Al was visibly holding Scorpius back from intervening. Smart boy, that cousin of mine. A murder at a birthday party really would put a damper on things. "So long as you didn't suggest it, I'm fine."

What was I saying? I wasn't fine with this at all! Sophie seemed as shocked as I was at my declaration and she actually smiled. "I'm so sorry, Rose," she said. "But happy birthday."

"Thanks." I said, shortly.

"So how old are you now?" she asked.

"Twenty three," I answered with a shudder. "It's so old I don't even want to think about it."

"Oh, I know what you mean!" Sophie said, nodding vigorously. "I felt the exact same way when I turned twenty!"

_Bitch_, I immediately thought, but I didn't jump down her throat. Instead, I found my mouth doing that whole thought-splurge thing that I can't control, "So how did you end up working in Muggle Relations?" I asked her. Like I was interested.

"My dad's a Muggle," Sophie told me. "I learnt so much about the way Muggles and Muggle-borns were treated during the war and I just found myself wanting to make a difference. I've basically had my mind set since I was about thirteen. What about you?" she asked, politely. "Was it the same with you and Healing?"

I snorted. "I left Hogwarts working at my uncle's joke shop. Then, my cousin cracked his head open and I decided I'd try my hand at it."

I could tell Sophie wasn't entirely sure whether she believed me. I tend to have that effect whenever I tell my stories. What the hell was I doing? Why was I talking to this girl like a normal person? I was supposed to be telling her to piss off out of my flat and that Scorpius was way too good for her, but … I didn't want to. For some reason, I had the thought that, perhaps, Sophie was too good for Scorpius. Maybe it was her peppy young-ness sinking into me and messing with my brain.

"So, erm," Sophie seemed to be trying to find something else to ask. "How did you and Scorpius meet?"

Oh, god. We had to go back that far? "Uh, we were eleven," I admitted. "First train ride to Hogwarts. He made fun of Hufflepuff's, so I decided on the spot that I hated him."

"He made fun of _Hufflepuff's_?" Sophie looked outraged. "I would have killed him!"

"I take it that was your house?"

"Hufflepuff and proud!" Sophie declared. "You were Ravenclaw. Trust me, there wasn't one person in that castle who didn't know who you and Scorpius were. I even saw that screaming match in the Great Hall!"

"Ah …" I normally tried to block out that particular memory, along with most of that school year.

"… oh, god, I'm so sorry," Sophie suddenly seemed to realise the awkwardness of the situation. "This must be horrible for you. I swear, I had _no_ idea about you when Scorpius asked me out. I didn't remember him from school, we never talked, but I should have, it's not a very common name is it? We just work in offices next to each other and I liked him for ages, but I never said anything, then we got talking one day and–"

"Wait, _he_ asked _you_ out?" I suddenly cut in. That was like a blow to the stomach. Here I was thinking that some bitch had waltzed in and stolen Scorpius from me. The thought of _him_ actually being the one to move on was …

"Er, yes," Sophie looked apologetic. "I sort of mentioned that I liked him and he took the initiative and just asked me. I didn't even know you existed until he warned me about his deranged ex-girlfriend who may possibly try and kill me."

"Yeah, I considered that," I said, honestly. "But really, at this point, I just want to kill him more. Did he tell you anything else about me that I should know?"

"All he told me was that you went out for six years and you're a little bit crazy …" Sophie admitted.

"He _what_?" I said. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me … I mean, I _am_ crazy, but what right did he have telling you?"

"Look, if you ask me, I didn't think it was right of him to be going out with someone so soon after breaking up when you'd been together for that long," Sophie told me. "But … I'm sorry, this is so awkward … I don't mean to cause any trouble, but you need to know, I really do like him, Rose …"

"I – no, no, I get it," I sighed. What? I do? What the hell, Rose? "He's … Scorpius. _I_ fell for him, too, though I am wondering why now."

"So … you're ok with this, then?" she asked me and I stared at her hard. "Me and him …?"

No, I wasn't ok with it. No way in _hell_. But when Sophie asked me, the only thing I could think about was that I was so thankful that it was her and not some random girl he had picked up at a nightclub or something. "To be honest, Sophie," I said. "I hate it. I've always had this thing, even before we got together, where I didn't want him to ever have a girlfriend. I was afraid he would just forget about me and I guess it was because I pretty much wanted him all to myself. That hasn't changed. I … I don't want him like _that_," I wasn't sure if that was entirely true, but whatever. I'll face that another day. "But I don't want anyone else to have him, either."

"Ah," Sophie looked uncomfortable. "If it helps," she added. "He also told me that you'd stick around in his life?"

"Come again?"

"Well," Sophie thought for a moment. "On our first date, we sort of exchanged histories. I told him about my ex-boyfriend from last year and he told me about you. He made sure to mention that no matter how over you he was, you were always going to stay in his life."

"Really?" I couldn't believe this.

"Well, yeah," Sophie shrugged. "I mean, your cousin is his flatmate. And he is getting married to _your_ flatmate. Of course you'll be hanging around," She gave me a small smile and I felt myself almost smiling back against my will. What is happening to me?! "But I'll be around, too. I just don't want there to be animosity between us because we both want the same man. That's not going to happen, is it?"

I didn't know how to answer her. No, I didn't want Scorpius to have a girlfriend who wasn't me. No, I didn't want him back. Yes, if I kept telling myself that enough times, it might start being true. Did we honestly both want the same boy in the way Sophie was suggesting?

"I severely hope not," I eventually told her. "And I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid after tonight, you may not even _have_ a boyfriend, because I honestly am going to kill him!"

Sophie just outright laughed at that. "Rose, can I say that I like you?"

And my mouth somehow said, "Sophie, I like you, too."

* * *

In the end, it didn't take long to flay Scorpius alive.

The moment I left Sophie, I stormed straight for him. Al finally let go of Scorpius's jumper and he exchanged looks with me. I could tell that he would support whatever I did; it was _his _fault for making Scorpius come here, after all. Scorpius's eyes went wide as I approached and held up his hands in defence as I slammed a hand into his chest and forced him into the kitchen.

"What the HELL?!" I yelled at him. The few people who were in the kitchen were pretty quick to flee. We were soon alone and I had a painful flashback of several good memories I'd had with Scorpius in this very room. To describe them would break my resolve, so I shook it off.

"Hey! Look, I know you're mad, but you don't need to–"

"The HELL I don't!" I roared, shoving him in the chest once again. "You keep acting like everything bad that ever happened between us was MY fault! Did it ever occur to you that it wasn't all just me?! Was is easier, perhaps, to keep thinking that–?"

"What the hell are you on about–? Well, it wasn't all just me, either!" Scorpius spluttered.

"That's not the POINT!" I yelled over him and he fell silent. "We BROKE UP, Scorpius, there are BOUNDRIES! You can't keep waltzing into my flat like you own the place any more! I don't care if you had to talk to Al, it could have waited until after the party! You can't tell stories about me to Sophie! I don't know whether you're trying to make her hate me or whatever, but it hasn't worked! I spoke with her and she's _nice _– far too nice to be with you!"

Scorpius was standing in front of me, his mouth gaping open slightly. I don't think I'd ever seen him looking so shocked. I didn't even know where this was all coming from. All I knew was that it needed to come out. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but you can't 'win' our break up by being the first to go out with someone else! Have fun in your normal and perfect relationship while you can, because like it or not, I KNOW you, Scorpius Malfoy, and I know that you're going to be bored of it soon enough! I'm sick of you treating me like everything is my fault and I'm not going to stand around and take it anymore! You're SUCH a BASTARD! Now GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"

For a long moment, I didn't think Scorpius would move. Then, his leg jerked, and without saying anything, he practically ran for the lounge. I followed and stood in the doorway, watching him wave a hasty goodbye to Al before taking Sophie by the hand and pulling her with him out of the flat. The look in his eyes almost seemed _scared_.

I folded my arms as I leaned against the kitchen doorframe and smirked. That had felt _good_.

Conclusion to turning a year older, suddenly becoming unwitting friends with my ex's new girlfriend and screaming my head off:

-Scorpius had it coming. See if I bloody care about him anymore.

-I'm not entirely sure why my brain keeps saying that I like Sophie. I want to be angry and jealous, because that's all I've ever really known. Now … I'm something else and I don't know what it is yet.

-Despite the pain and humiliation, my parents, friends and this party have actually made it bearable. I'll even tolerate turning a whole year older.

Rose: 20, Scorpius: 18.

(It's MY party and I'll scream if I want to!).

* * *

A/N: I know that Scorpius has been a colossal douche as of recently, so I hope you all liked this, because he NEEDED telling. Rose is in a place now where she can get on with her life and see what it's really like to not have Scorpius in it.

I also know that 23 is not that old in hindsight, but everyone always thinks so whenever they reach a year older. I freaked out when I only turned 21!

I know that this isn't the easiest of stories to fluff along with. I like drama. I like making things difficult. I won't change my story just to please people. But so far, you've all been really supportive and I want to thank you for it.

Please tell me what you think!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	22. The Anniversary One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius or anniversaries. I do own Healer O'Hotness, however.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 21: The Anniversary One.

There were two very important dates in my life that always happened around the same time of the year. The first was my birthday in April. Then, barely a month later, the second … well. It's no longer important.

And that hurt.

"Rosie!" Bea burst straight into my room without knocking, as she always did. "Get up! You've got work!"

"Do I have to?"

"Yes! Kids are still sick and they need you to help make them better!" Bea looked like she was about to rip back my duvet, much like she had done on my birthday just last month. But then, she seemed to notice my expression and she softened, sitting down next to me instead. "The anniversary?" she asked me, quietly.

"Yeah," I said back, sitting up reluctantly. That was when I noticed that despite her smiling face at me, her fingers were twisting the end of her shirt. "… what's up with you?"

Bea gave a mock cheerful expression. "My mum and Al's mum are getting together today to finalise wedding plans!" she said.

"Oh, _shit_."

"I know," Bea had nodded, like she had accepted her future and knew that it looked grim. "I'm tossing up between wearing a helmet, or just going over-precautious and wearing an entire suit of armour. The wedding's in two months and they still can't bloody decide what colour tablecloths they want! Like I care about bloody tablecloths or even tables for that matter. Why everyone can't just bring their own food is beyond me … you'll be there, right?"

"What? Really?" I said. I had almost actually gotten up, but at that thought, I had promptly rolled back into bed.

"Yes! You're the Maid of Honour!" Bea said. "And my moral support! You'll be the only one stopping me from murdering someone! And I don't particularly want to have to get married between bars of an Azkaban cell."

"Why did it have to be today …?" I mumbled, throwing a pillow over my head.

"Look, I know it must be tough, not celebrating your anniversary this year," Bea said softly to me, stroking my hair. "I get it! It's the one day of the year you actually somewhat acted like a normal couple … but …"

"But nothing!" I sat up straight once more. "It shouldn't matter anymore and it doesn't."

"Oh …" Bea watched me closely. "Rosie, can I ask … what exactly _happened_ between the two of you at your birthday? I know he showed up, Al told me, but you never mentioned anything … do you want me to kill him for you?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," I said, truthfully. "I should have. I don't know why I didn't. But you don't need to kill him because I took care of that myself!"

For a while, Bea just stared, looking slightly worried. Then, in a very low voice, she asked, "… Rose, how serious are you being? Are you speaking metaphorically, or am I about to become an accessory to murder?"

I laughed. "Oh, Bea, don't worry!" I said, squeezing her shoulder. "I didn't actually kill him, no matter how tempting!" She visibly relaxed. I'm sure that I probably should have been worried at the fact that my best friend thought I was capable of premeditated murder, but oh, well, I'll face that later. "No, I sort of screamed at him. About how it wasn't fair of him to just come parading into my birthday and a whole load of stuff sort of came from that, but I was sick of it! Harley thinks that I've hurt him, and maybe I have, but he's hurt me, too, and deserved to be told"

"Al mentioned a screaming match," Bea said. "But I didn't think anything of it, there's been so many in the past!"

"Yet another fight in the lives of Rose and Scorpius."

Bea cracked a smile, but then she glanced down. "What?" I asked her.

"Well," She gave me an apologetic look. "Don't get me wrong, Scorpius has hurt you and the git deserved to be shot down … but, I have to admit, I'm a little sad, Rosie."

"About _what_?"

"You and Scorpius!" she said. "I mean, it's _always _been you two! I've been watching all of this from the side-lines, wishing there was something I could do about it. While I think it was a good idea to break up in the end, I always thought you'd be … y'know … back together by now." She gave me another guilty smile, like she was sorry that she was ultimately rooting for us.

"Bea, I'm sorry." I sighed.

"Don't apologise! It's not your fault at all!" Bea said at once. "I'm just sad, is all. I mean, you were together a _long _time, and everyone could see how much you loved him. I'm just curious, and I'm not trying to make you reconsider, but do you think that can ever actually go away? _Completely_?"

I thought about it hard. I didn't know. In the past, thinking of Scorpius filled me with anger _and_ love. That was just how we worked. Then, the anger took over. At this point in time, I knew that I was in no shape at all to forgive Scorpius. Would I even want to?

"Love is complicated," I said, eventually. "With us, it got to the point where it wasn't enough. I don't know if it'll ever completely go way, or even if I want it to, but he'd need to do _something_ on a bloody spectacular proportion first, to show that he's stopped being such a colossal arsehole!"

Bea laughed. "Fair enough. Now, you actually _do_ have to get now, anniversary or not. Are you sure you're going to be ok today?"

"Course!" I told her. "Completely, one hundred per cent ok with it!"

* * *

Clearly, I was _not_ ok with it, but I wasn't going to tell Bea that. Yes, I was still angry at him and yes, I didn't want to think about him, but I still somehow ended up at work wondering what we could have been doing if I hadn't have dumped him. We were together a long time, I couldn't help it! We would have been celebrating _seven years_ together. He probably would have woken up in bed right next to me and he would have been the one to shove me awake, not Bea. He would have announced his wonderful plans for today after work, which would probably end in tears and/or going up in smoke, but I would have loved it anyway because he thought of it. Like Bea said, we generally tended to throw away any petty squabbles on our anniversary; save for the inevitable date fight, because, let's face it, we're Rose and Scorpius. We're always going to fight.

Instead, I had to face an entire evening of wedding planning with the spawn of Satan herself.

When the hell had my life gone so bloody _wrong_?

"Are you sad today, Healer Weasley?" Bella asked me.

"Hmm?" I was forced to remember where I was and what I was actually doing. Right. At work, healing sick children. I shook my head before glancing down at my current patient.

Three year old Bella had had been brought in a few days ago with a high fever, which had somehow turned into a magical bug that caused her to grow random extra body parts. We still weren't entirely sure what bug it was, but when we weren't trying to remove an extra leg sticking out of her head, Bella had been a very sweet girl, if a bit shy.

"I'm so sorry, Bella!" I told her. "My head is just in the clouds today!"

Bella giggled. "Are you sad, Healer Weasley?" she said again.

"What makes you ask that?" I said. "I'm just going to check your temperature, if that's ok?"

Bella nodded and let me lightly tap her forehead with my wand. Red smoke went twirling up where skin and wand met to give me the number. "It's 'cause you look sad," Bella told me. "Are you going to cry?"

"I hope I don't!" I told her, tapping her chart to update it with the latest facts. "I don't like being sad. How are _you_ feeling today?"

"I feel hot!" Bella complained, kicking off her sheets for the millionth time today. Her blond curls were drenched in sweat and my heart went out to her. "You're going to make me better, right?"

"We won't _ever_ stop trying to make you better, Bella," I told her. "No extra legs today?"

"I got an extra head!" Bella said, suddenly excited. While most people would be perturbed at the idea of sprouting off extra limbs, Bella thought it was the most brilliant thing she'd ever experienced. "Mummy thought it wasn't good, though, so Healer Pyne-Smith took it away. It was funny!"

"I'll bet it was," I told her. "Imagine you with two heads!"

"Yeah!" Bella said, happily. "Where's Mummy?"

"Remember, she's just with Maddie at the moment," I told Bella, reminding her of when her mother had had to leave for a few moments to attend to her new baby daughter, who had woken and started screaming. After apologising for waking up every single child in the ward, she had taken baby Maddie on a walk throughout the hospital to try and calm her. "They've gone for a walk, but they'll both be back, yeah?"

"Maddie cries when she's sad," Bella said, rather thoughtfully for a three-year-old. "I thought you would cry, but you didn't."

"Well, I'm a bit bigger than Maddie," I explained. "I only cry if I'm _really_ sad."

"So ARE you really sad?" Bella asked. "Really, really, really, REALLY sad?"

I smiled at the little girl who probably knew more about emotions than I did at the moment. "Sometimes, I feel like it," I told her honestly. "But all your bright faces here make it a bit better."

Just then my Healer supervisor, Healer Pyne-Smith, entered the ward to inform me that I could go on break. Healer Pyne-Smith was a lovely man with sandy hair in his thirties who kept calling me his little prodigy. The children's ward for magical diseases was split into two different sectors; one for long-term and one for short-term. While I was currently in short-term and Bethany was in long-term, we often swapped around so we could see both sides. Technically, we weren't supposed to, but Healer Pyne-Smith was always willing to push the rules.

"You're not going to find the place you want to work in by just sticking in one spot!" he had told us. "Switch around, I don't mind! But, er, don't tell Healer Dinah I told you that …" It had taken us a moment to realise that Healer Dinah was Healer O'Satan's real name.

I said goodbye to Bella and I ended up getting several kids waving and calling, "Bye, Healer Weasley!" as I moved to the door of the ward. I waved to everyone, their smiles making my day just that little bit better. Healer Pyne-Smith nodded at me as I passed him.

"I must say, Healer Weasley," he said to me with a proud look. "You're getting better every day! Your relationships with these children are excellent and you still managed to maintain those professional boundaries! Can I ask, have you thought of working in this cycle if you were offered the full Healer position?"

"I have, actually," I said, grinning back. "I really love it up here. And thank you, Healer Pyne-Smith."

"No, thank you!" he said to me. "For some reason, we don't get a lot of people willing to work with the kids. They either think it's too exhausting or too upsetting if things go wrong."

I thought about that. "All of these kids have a future," I shrugged. "The way I see it, I'm helping them get there."

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

* * *

When I got to the break room, it was to find that it had practically been converted into a concession stand for bookies that you might find at your typical horse racing event.

"Bets, people, place your bets!" two fourth-year trainees were parading around the room with boxes, yelling this out to everyone in the room. "C'mon, you know you want to! Everyone's got a favourite: what will happen to yours? C'mon people, bets!"

"Good god, it's starting already?" I asked, collapsing onto one of the sofas at the back of the staff room next to Ally. There were several disgruntled-looking fifth-year trainees sitting together, glaring at the other trainees place bets on our lives.

"It was funny when we got to do it last year!" Margo complained, approaching us through the crowd of trainees. She sat on the arm of the sofa, since I had had taken the last place. "Seriously, I made like, twenty Galleons last year! But when it's _us_ they're betting about …"

"Know what you mean, mate," Ben rolled his eyes from his position on a chair in front of us. "It's like … don't they have faith in us at all?"

"It's tradition, I don't think it's going to stop any time soon." Sarah pointed out from Ally's other side.

"I heard that even the Healer supervisors get in on it!" Callum agreed, next to Ben. "Which must be cheating, since they're the ones who decide whether we pass or fail each cycle in the first place."

"I think it's silly," Ally told me and I turned to face her. "I refused to do it last year. It's an awful way to make money!"

For a moment, I was glad that Gerald wasn't here. Last year, the two of us had gone in together on then-fifth-year, Rebecca Marks, getting through and we'd ended up making twenty one Galleons and three Sickles each! However, directly countering your girlfriend's personal opinion was probably not going to help in getting into her good books, so I made sure to avoid Ally's eye as I said, "Oh, yes, awful. Gerald hates it, too!"

Ally just smiled at me before standing up. "Rosie," she said, the others not listening and instead, busy complaining together about how the other trainees had no idea what they were on about, and who the hell were they to make bets on who would make it through to full-Healer or not? "Er, I was just wondering, can I talk to you?"

I narrowed my eyes in confusion, but agreed as Ally led me over towards the corner where all the lockers stood, currently bursting out bags, Healer robes, wands and even a sleeping bag, probably owned by some poor trainee who was working a 24 hour shift. She stopped in front of the lockers and gave me an odd look.

"This might sound strange," she said, quietly. "but I was hoping you could give me some advice."

"Ally, you know I would help you with anything." I told her at once.

"Well … the thing is, it's about … er, Gerald, and I understand that your strained relationship with Scorpius might make that sort of topic uncomfortable for you …"

I smiled. That was why I loved Ally. She always thought of others. I seriously don't know why she even likes me, considering I always just burst into situations without thinking. "Ally, it's fine," I told her. "I'm your friend, that's why I'm here."

"Oh. Well, thank you," Ally's face was going steadily pink. "I wanted to ask …" She gulped before blurting out quickly, "Rosie, how do you say 'I love you'?"

I raised an eyebrow at her, staring at her honestly confused face. Eventually, I asked, "What, like, in French or something …?"

"Oh, no! I'm sorry," Ally cringed slightly. "It's just … I know that I love Gerald. And I know he loves me, because he told me. And I've told him before, but that was almost two years ago, and I want to tell him again! But I don't know how, not at all!"

"Oh, Ally!" I said, almost laughing. "You just say it! I know it's hard, but there will never be a right time or place, no matter how hard you try and look for one. It just comes out and it will be perfect, no matter how."

"Really? And that worked for you?"

"Well, I screamed it in front of roughly a hundred people and we managed to last six years," I shrugged. "Would have been seven today, actually …"

"God, really?" Ally's eyes went wide. "Why on earth did you let me ask you this then?! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to–!"

"Ally! Ally!" I took hold of her shoulders, since she looked like she was going to work up into an arm-flap debacle. "You have nothing to be sorry for, I swear! I admit I'm a bit upset, but it's more because of what we lost, rather than the fact that I lost him. You and Gerald have something special. You should let him know that."

"Anytime, anywhere, you say?"

"It doesn't matter. So long as you say it."

Ally nodded. "I will–"

"Hey, girls!"

Of course, that was about when Gerald chose to join us. I grinned, as Ally looked a strange mix of scared and determined. I rarely saw that look. "Gerald!" she said, before throwing her arms around him. Even Gerald looked a bit shocked and indeed, it took Ally several moments to realise that she had just hugged her boyfriend in front of thirty odd people. For her, that was complete overload. She quickly let go, her face slowly going bright red, but she continued to look up at him with clear adoration on her face as she said, "I love you!"

I tried not to laugh as Gerald simply said, "I love you, too." He grinned so widely, I thought his face might split.

"Oh! I love the both of you!" I cried, happily.

Both Gerald and Ally turned to give me bemused looks. "… Rosie, you all right?" Gerald asked, no doubt eyeing my maniacal expression.

"Yes!" I said. "Of course! I'm just so happy for you two. I mean, how long has it been since the three of us have been able to stand together peacefully like this? Like, two years?"

"Yeah, I was a bit of an idiot …" Gerald admitted.

"A bit?" Ally shoved him in the side. "You completely ignored me!"

"I said I was sorry, didn't I?"

"Either way, everything's sorted now!" I cut in before they could start another mounting tension that would last yet another two years. "You two were basically the first friends I made on this course and despite the drama in your own lives, you stuck by me. Thank you."

"Geez, it's fine, Rosie," Gerald rolled his eyes at me. "It would have been impossible to _not_ be your friend."

"Always remember, you helped save my life." Ally added.

"And you got us together!" Gerald added, squeezing Ally's shoulder. "Seriously, if we didn't have you harping on in the background, I don't think we _ever_ would have got together. If anything, we should be thanking _you_."

"Ah, y'know. I try." I said.

"By the way, I ran into Healer O'Sullivan in the reception," Gerald added, rolling his eyes. "Y'know … the one you girls call Healer O'Hotness?"

"Oh, yes?" I grinned. Healer O'Hotness was Ally's current Healer supervisor and I swear she was about the only girl professional enough to manage to look at him without drooling.

"Yes, well, he asked to see you, Rosie." Gerald said, shrugging.

"What? _Why_?" That confused me. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd been scheduled in the potion mixing lab!

"I dunno, he was just in the middle of writing a message to Catie at reception to send to you when I heard your name. I said I'd pass it on."

"Huh. Well, thanks," I told him. "No idea what he wants, but I'm sure as hell not going to pass up the opportunity to stare!"

Gerald just snorted. "You girls. You all disgust me."

"What about me?" Ally asked, glancing up at him.

"Oh, you're the exception of course," Gerald said, his eyes lighting up in the way they only did around Ally. Two years ago, the look in both their eyes had been one of pain and I didn't _ever_ want to see those again. "Did you know that we've been together three months now?" he asked her, almost giddy.

"I know! Three _months_! I think that's my longest relationship ever! Actually, it's pretty much my _only_ relationship …"

"I went out with a girl back at Hogwarts for about a year," Gerald shrugged. "That was probably my longest, but she had nothing on you, Ally …"

"Mine … yeah. Y'know." I said, closing my eyes. I'd already voiced it to Ally; I didn't really want to have to do it again.

"Oh, damn, Rosie," Gerald's voice of concern made me look at him, gratefully. "That's right, I'm sorry, it's about that time of year. Today would have been your anniversary, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah. But it doesn't matter," I shrugged, even though to me it really did matter. "Sometimes, things just end. Nothing lasts forever."

"Some relationships can, Rosie," Gerald pointed out. "Don't let that stupid ex of yours make you lose faith!"

"Never would have pegged you for the romantic type." I said with a smile.

Gerald went slightly pink, but quickly brushed it off, like it was nothing. "Hey, romance is thin on the ground these days. Us men have to do everything we can to keep it alive!"

"Oh, really?" Ally asked, turning back to give him a sceptical look. "And how do you plan to do that? Recite poetry or something?"

"Erm …" Gerald thought wildly for a moment. "Ok, I can't do that, but I _can_ recite every spell we use to heal someone!"

"… really?" It was very obvious that Ally didn't believe him.

"Yes, I can! Sang them all to a song in my head so I'd remember them for one of our exams! _Episkey, Ferula, Tergeo, Vulnera Sanentur_–"

"–ok, I admit it," Ally had gone rather red. "That's actually sort of attractive."

I half expected her to just snog him on the spot, despite the crowded room and the curious eyes. Seriously, that is Healer-love right there.

* * *

"Hey Catie!" I called to the lovely receptionist woman. "Apparently you've got a message for me?"

"Why yes, a Healer O'Sullivan, no less," she grinned. "He was here just a moment ago, told him you were on break and your friend, Healer Brown, said he'd come tell you."

"Just told me now," I said, leaning against the desk next to Catie. "So c'mon, what does he want? Or were you too busy ogling a bloke half your age to take any notice?" I teased.

Catie just swiped a hand at me when a voice behind me said, "Healer Weasley?"

I turned. Good god, there he was; Healer O'Hotness. Seriously, this bloke had to be the hottest thing on legs in existence. The only thing that could match him was … no, Rose, don't even go there. It had been a while since I'd been scheduled within the potions lab and I'd seriously underestimated his looks in my head. His brown, wavy hair sat perfectly and his eyes were so blue, they had to have been magically brightened, I swear. He couldn't have been that much older than me; late twenties at the most. He grinned when he saw me and I almost forgot to breathe.

"Healer O'Hot – erm, O'Sullivan," I hastily corrected myself as Catie and the other receptionist ladies giggled. "You wanted to see me?"

"Why yes, I did," he said, still smiling. Did he ever stop? "Won't you come to my office with me?"

"Um, well, I'll be due back on the floor soon–"

"Oh, go on!" Catie quickly intervened, practically leaning her entire body across her desk to get a look at Healer O'Hotness's smile. "I can tell your supervisor you got an owl!" She winked at me when, upon not having any excuse now, I followed Healer O'Hotness towards the stairs. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on here; Catie and the other ladies all just laughed and giggled when I turned back to give them all questioning looks. I mean, sure, the man's hot, but what did he want with _me_? Ally was the one working in his lab during the current cycle, not me!

Healer O'Hotness's office was on the third floor, through the crowded mixing lab and near the back amongst several other offices. Healer O'Hotness's was the biggest, being the supervisor for the area and the moment the door was closed, he turned to smile at me, perching on the edge of his desk.

"Well, I've heard a lot about you, Healer Weasley." he told me.

"Erm …" I couldn't help but glance back at the closed door. What the hell was going on here? He wasn't going to, I dunno, murder me and blame it on one of the workers who called his potions flat? "Look, I have to go back to work soon, so if you could just … tell me what this is about …" I edged back towards the door, but Healer O'Hotness just moved towards me, placing his hands on my waist.

This was new.

"… ah … Healer O'Sullivan …"

"Please, call me Tony," he said. He raised an eyebrow. His hands were light enough that he could pass it off as just moving me out of the way of the door, unless I did something about it. Did I _want _to do something about it? Was one of my Healer supervisors _hitting on_ me? "Like I said, I've heard a lot about you from the other trainees and I've sort of made it my, ah, mission," He quirked an eyebrow at me. "to get to know you better."

My heart was racing. This had certainly never happened to me before. Oh, my god, what do I do?! I knew the sensible thing would be to yank myself backwards, to insist that this was wildly inappropriate and to go straight to Healer Williams about filing harassment charges. But for some reason, my body reacted differently. I'd never had someone who just _wanted_ me, rather than loving me as well.

It was crazy and it was thrilling.

I stepped into his arms and answered,

"Call me Rose, and maybe then we'll talk."

"Well, _Rose_," Healer O'Hotness's arms tightened as he walked me backwards until I bumped into the wall. "I know that _I'm_ not doing anything tonight … how about you join me for dinner at my place?"

* * *

"You said WHAT?!" Bea shrieked.

"Yes! I said YES, ok?!" I cried.

"ROSE!" Bea looked completely gob-smacked. Having stood up in shock, she now just collapsed onto the sofa next to me. "… what the hell are you doing?"

I didn't really know. We were currently hiding at Al's place, since Aunty Ginny and Mrs Bowmen had met up for their wonderful 'wedding meeting' over at ours. We were _supposed_ to be supervising, but we'd left once the screaming had reached a point where we couldn't even hear each other yell. Bea had already expressed the notion that we should have a permanent owl service available for us to contact the Auror office, because there really was going to be a murder soon. You could even hear them from two flats down!

"–_if you didn't want a clash, then you shouldn't have had half your family with red hair_–!"

"–_if you didn't want a clash, then YOU should be planning your other daughter's wedding! Oh, wait! This is the closest you'll ever get_–!"

"Look, Bea," I told my best friend. "I honestly have no _idea_ what I'm doing! I didn't know what he wanted; he requested a meeting with me, so I went! I didn't _ask_ for him to come on to me!"

"But you said _yes_!" Bea said, gobsmacked.

"Well, what the hell was I supposed to say?!"

"Um, how about NO?" she yelled. "I dunno, maybe you could have told him that you have some PRIDE?! That you weren't going to screw a good grade out of him?! And today of ALL days, Rose! On your _anniversary_?"

"HEY! It's not my anniversary anymore and I'm not even in that section this cycle!"

"God, Rosie, that's not the POINT!" Bea closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead. "… look, I get that you're hurt. I get that today's a difficult day for you. But getting off with one of your _supervisors_? In what universe would that _ever_ be a good idea?"

"Bea, has it ever _occurred_ to you that perhaps just what I need is to do something stupid?!" I suddenly snapped. Bea just stared, so I continued on. I didn't even realise that's what I felt about all this. "Scorpius has gotten out there, he's already moved on! What have _I_ done?! Sat on my arse, eating my body weight in ice cream and feeling sorry for myself! When was the last time I ever did anything just for me?! Hell, I've only ever slept with one bloke my entire life! What would _you_ do?!"

"Rose, I'm the entirely wrong person to ask that," Bea said, quietly. "I'm getting _married_ to the only bloke I've ever slept with."

"Well, sorry my life isn't as perfect as yours!" I said.

That was about when Bea snapped. "Rose, would you stop being so SELFISH?!" she yelled at me, storming to her feet once more. Pacing on the rug, I just stalked to the kitchen to try and find some tea to calm me down. "_Rose_! Think about what you're going to _do_ here! He's sick, thinking that he can just call you up and that you'll say yes because he's hot! To make it worse, you're _encouraging_ him!"

"For god's sake, it's not like I'm looking to marry him!" I snapped back, spinning around at the entrance to the kitchen to face her. "I'm young, he's interested, and I think it's about time I did something selfish for a change!"

"Look, Rose, just _think_," Bea hurried forward, her curls practically on end like they did when she was stressed. "Why the hell is he suddenly interested in you _now_? Did it ever occur to you that perhaps he's doing this so he can, I dunno, blackmail you or something? If you do this, if you go over there … for all we know, he could threaten to tell your boss to make you do all sorts of insane things!"

"I've already been blackmailed once this year, Bea," I said, giving her a dark look. "I highly doubt I'm _that_ unlucky to have it happen to me twice. What, you think that there _has_ to be a reason? That perhaps, he doesn't just simply _like_ me?"

"I didn't say that–"

"Funny, that's what it sounded like!" I yelled. "Bea, you don't understand! You don't know what it's like to be _alone_. After being in a relationship for so long and then suddenly, being by yourself? It's torture. And even if Scorpius came crawling back to me tomorrow, there's no way in hell I would be ready to take him back, even if I wanted to! I _need _this, something crazy, something stupid, something _not serious_."

Bea stared at me hard for several moments. Then, she seemed to steel herself for the worse as she said, "So that's it? You're not the _least bit suspicious_ that it's taken him an entire year to suddenly start _hitting on you_?"

"Why is it so crazy to think that someone may actually like me?!" I cried. "Am I seriously that deranged?!"

"Right now? Yes!" Bea suddenly said and I gaped at her. She couldn't be serious? She took in a deep breath and asked, "So. You've made up your mind, then?"

"Yes," I said, stubbornly. "I might be 'deranged', but I never thought you would ever actually look down on me for it."

"Oh, grow up, Rose," Bea said, shortly. "Fine. Do whatever the hell you want. But I'm not going to stick around and watch you screw up your life. Please, don't talk to me for a while. I'm going home." With that, she turned and she stormed out of the boys' flat without a backwards glance.

For a long moment, I leaned against the kitchen door, breathing hard. Had I just ruined everything? Had _she_ ruined everything? Bea was my whole life, my best friend in the entire _world_. Ever since we met, I don't think we'd ever had an argument like this. She didn't get it, didn't understand how I felt. I've never _had_ something simple and casual. I wanted to be crazy, I wanted to be wild!

Was it worth it?

* * *

I knocked on the door before I could lose my nerve. He answered with the dazzling smile.

"Rose," Healer O'Hotness said. "So nice to see you! Come on in."

"Skip the pleasantries," I answered quickly, shoving him backwards and slamming the door behind me with me foot. I smiled as he held my waist, kissing my neck. "We both know that's not what I'm here for."

Conclusion to anniversaries and doing stupid things:

-I think it's obligatory that in everybody's life, everyone's entitled to make one stupid, insane mistake.

-Healer O'Hotness was mine. But _hell_, was it an amazing one!

Rose: 21 Scorpius: 18.

(Take _that, _Scorpius!).

* * *

A/N: I was a bit nervous to post this chapter, to be honest.

Gee. Um. Seriously, I didn't expect the blow out with Bea when I first wrote this chapter. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that Bea would not be ok with it. Like she says, she's marrying the only boy she's ever been in love with. Her life turned out perfect. She doesn't understand Rose's need for a different kind of relationship.

I'm not saying that either of them are making the right choices, or that either one of them is completely to blame; they've both hurt each other. But they've also been friends for so long without ever fighting, and I think this will really test their friendship. Again, sorry for so much drama.

So to those who thought Rose should date again, I hope you're reasonably happy with this. Rose explained her reasons (and my reasons) for wanting a non-serious relationship. It will be wild, passionate and short-lived and I hope you all look forward to a very jealous Scorpius. :)

Thank you so much for your reviews! Seriously, I didn't expect all the support for the last chapter. You were all amazing! I'm sure you'll have something to say to this one.

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	23. The Crazy One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, jealousy or going crazy.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 22: The Crazy One.

_Dear LL, _

_I've done something a bit crazy. Actually, it's something crazily stupid. _

_I kind of slept with one of my Healer supervisors from work. Several times. _

_Ok, maybe I should back up a bit, y'know, to stop you from having a heart attack. You're probably hyperventilating right now, aren't you? I guess this all started when Scorpius got a new girlfriend. Sophie. She's about the sweetest thing you can find and I bloody HATE that! All I want to do is hate her and I just can't! So he was flouncing around, rubbing her in my face and I admit, I went just a little bit insane. _

_Then something happened at work. One of my Healer supervisors, Healer Tony O'Sullivan (who we all call Healer O'Hotness, but that's entirely not the point, I'm sure) called me into his office randomly and started flirting with me. He invited me back to his place. _

_And, well, I kind of said yes. _

_Before you write back, "What were you thinking?!" I will answer I WASN'T thinking! The only coherent thought that ran through my brain was, 'Hot guy wants to have sex with me' and I went with it. Only, it sort of didn't stop. It's been almost three weeks now and we've been together basically the whole time. _

_I guess I'm writing to you because I don't know what I'm doing. I've never had a relationship like this! But I know you have. Is this wrong? Because while I know it's the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life, hell, I've had fun doing it! I needed to go a bit crazy and do something wild. But is there a point where you've gone too far? When you start to hurt others? _

_Because Bea and I got into a rather large argument over it and it's gotten to the point where I'm so incredibly mad at her, and she won't even speak to me. We're probably both at fault; she said I was doing it for all the wrong reasons and that there was no possible way that Healer O'Hotness (I can't really call him Tony to other people without cringing) would suddenly be interested in me and that he must have a secret agenda. And me, well, I KNOW I'm doing it for the wrong reasons, but I did it anyway, completely ignoring what Bea said, because her comments hurt me. _

_But I miss her. We live together and she won't even say good morning! I refuse to talk to her and it's a vicious cycle … I hate it because she's upset, and when she's upset, Al's upset, and when Al's upset, Scorpius gets mad and … I don't know what to do. Bea's my best friend and we've never done anything like this to each other. I'm supposed to be her Maid of Honour and we can't even speak. _

_I'm in over my head. I'm not saying that Scorpius wasn't a factor in me doing this, but I did it mainly for me! I don't want to forever be the girl who has only ever been with Scorpius Malfoy her entire life. I want experience being with someone else. It's fun and it's crazy! Sure, I don't feel a single thing for Healer O'Hotness, but that doesn't really matter, right? _

_I just wish I wasn't hurting and being hurt by my best friend in the process. _

_I don't know, LL. I'm so sorry to just ramble about all of this to you, but you're the only person I could think of who would get what I mean, having been there yourself. I mean, when have you EVER had a serious relationship? (Not including Hogwarts). You must have nearly finished touring New Zealand, right? Only a month and a bit until Al and Bea's wedding! _

_I love you and please … tell me what to do. I just have no idea what's right or wrong anymore. _

_Love always, _

_Rosie. xox_

* * *

Lying in bed with Healer O'Hotness felt … different. I don't think it was weird, but it certainly wasn't what I was used to. He lived in a flash 'apartment' (apparently too fancy to be called a dingy 'flat' like mine) in central London, thanks to his salary as Head Potion Mixer at St Mungo's. For some reason, I had expected a typical bachelor pad; neon lights above the bed, a pool table and an entire fridge dedicated to Firewhiskey. But it was surprisingly normal. Just a lot of books and as I stared up at his bedroom ceiling, I wasn't looking at some kinky sex picture like I had anticipated … just a table of common potions.

It was slightly surreal.

"Oh, you're awake!" Healer O'Hotness said, entering his room once more, absolutely nothing on him except for two cups of coffee. I tried not to stare. Honest. "I've got work in a few hours, I was hoping I wouldn't have to boot you out of bed."

Unsure what to say in response, I just sat up gingerly and thanked him for the coffee. I _never_ knew what to say to Healer O'Hotness. I mean, our relationship wasn't exactly about talking, so I had no idea what was innocent flirting, or what bypassed into genuine questions. Normally, I felt it was a lot safer just to listen to him ramble, normally about potions. He settled in bed next to me and I supressed the urge to want to curl up next to him. I might not mind that this wasn't really serious, but let's face it, I'm a cuddler! However, I refrained myself. Healer O'Hotness didn't really seem to do that.

It kind of made me miss lazy mornings with … shut up, Rose.

"You got work today?" Healer O'Hotness asked me, taking a gulp of coffee.

"Not until tonight," I answered. "I've been put on nightshifts again. Healer O'Satan must hate me, I swear."

"Which one is Healer _O'Satan_?" Healer O'Hotness snorted.

I smirked. "Healer Dinah?"

"Oh, Marjory?" Healer O'Hotness laughed. "No wonder you trainees call her that, right bitch she is!"

"There is no bloody _way_ her name is _Marjory_." I said, awed.

"I kid you not, apparently her 'friends' call her 'Margie'!"

"Oh, my god!" See. This felt nice. Genuine talking. Joking. Having fun. In the three weeks we've been together, I don't think we've even argued once! It did feel a bit unnatural at first. I kept waiting for him to blow up over nothing, but as it turned out, we were rather similar in our annoying habits. I finished my coffee, just watching him. Aside from being gorgeous, he actually chose _me_. Me!

I still didn't know why.

"Heal … er, Tony?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"Why did you call me into your office that day?" Bloody hell, Rose, don't just jump straight into it or anything. I winced, but didn't take back my question. I placed my coffee cup down on the bedside table and rolled over silently onto my side to watch him. Healer O'Hotness didn't respond for a moment. Then, he sighed and placed down his own cup.

"Can't a bloke show interest in a woman without being chewed out over his _intentions_?" he asked.

"Possibly, but not when it came completely out of the blue!" I said back. "I'm not even in your cycle, my friend is!"

"Look, I talked to your friend, ok?" Healer O'Hotness told me, turning so he faced me as well. Reaching out, he touched my face lightly. "Ally, isn't it? She mentioned you and I got curious. She didn't seem interested in explaining every single life detail about you, so I decided to get to know you myself."

"But have you? Gotten to know me, that is," I said, raising a hand and holding his to my face. It felt warm and alive. "We don't really talk much …"

"Plenty of time for that later."

"Y'know, I'm surprised you actually managed to get Ally to say enough stuff about me to make me sound interesting," I told him. "I mean, first because whenever someone tells my life story, I come off as slightly deranged. Second, because Ally barely talks to anyone who isn't me or her boyfriend."

"It was rather painful trying to get more information," Healer O'Hotness rolled his eyes. I let go of his hand at that. "I couldn't believe how shy she was!"

I grabbed his wrist and shoved his hand back at him. "Ally may be shy, but she is one of the nicest people I've ever met!" I insisted.

"Don't worry, I believe you!" Healer O'Hotness held up his hands in defeat. "I'm sorry! I guess it doesn't matter anymore. I've already got you, don't I?"

"I … I suppose …" I gulped since the hand that had been previously on my face was now running up my side, my skin sizzling at the touch. Face growing hot, I wouldn't have been able to push him away, even if I wanted to. He rolled over on top of me, every inch of him touching. "I – I thought you had work–?"

"So I'm late," Healer O'Hotness murmured, nudging me with his nose and kissing my neck. "D'you really want me to leave now?"

"No." I squeaked, grabbing him behind the head so I could crush my lips to his.

* * *

I opened the front door as quietly as I possibly could, seeing as it was still only about six thirty in the morning and I didn't want to wake Bea. Not that she'd complain if she was woken. Carrying my shoes in one hand and my bag in the other, I awkwardly tried to close the door softly without making noise.

"Where the _hell _have you been?"

I jumped and of course, my shoes and bag crashed to the ground as the door slammed shut. Supressing the scream building up, I turned to see Al sitting at our dining table, a cup of tea in his hands and a shrewd expression on his face.

"Al!" I hissed. "What the hell?! Don't bloody do that!"

"I'm serious!" Al said as I pulled out my wand, summoning my bag and shoes before directing them to my bedroom. "Why the hell are you trying to sneak into your flat at six thirty in the morning?"

"What the – who do you – what the hell are _you_ doing here?" I retorted back.

"Look, we ran out of tea bags and you guys have that milk that makes froth – that's not the point!" Al rolled his eyes at me as I stalked into the kitchen. "Are you honestly just getting in?"

"Whatever, yes! I was with … er, Tony." I said, taking care not to look at him as I sat down next to him at the table. I could feel my neck burning.

"Right. 'Tony'." Al gave me another shrewd look, which I ignored.

"You're not going to lecture me again, are you?"

"I promised I wouldn't," Al said. Al wiped away his shrewd expression and replaced it with one I guess he considered neutral. "Remember? I'm not taking sides in all of this! Not when it's my fiancée verses my favourite cousin."

"I wish you wouldn't say 'verses' like that, it makes me feel like I'm in the middle of a wrestling match that I can't get out of."

"You kind of are." Al pointed out.

"I know! I'm _sorry_," I gave Al an appreciative look. My cousin had been so amazing the past three weeks. Determining that we were both at fault, Al had quickly decided that he wasn't going to take sides in this mess. He was going to support both of us. He didn't tell Bea that she was out of line and he didn't tell me that I was being stupid. He had been so calm throughout the whole thing and I loved him for it. "Al, thank you. For still loving me. I know it's a hard job."

"Hey, you're my Rosie," he smiled. "We've been together since birth. I'll always love you, even if I don't want to."

That rang true in my mind; I'd felt it many times and not just for my family. To take my mind off my crazy life for a moment, I asked him, "So why are you up so early?"

Al snorted. "I'm planning on hiding at work all day. Bea's mother and sister have taken to 'popping round' at random hours, anywhere between seven in the morning, till ten at night. I think they're trying to catch us off guard, so we don't have time to slam the door in their faces."

"I heard that last time, they tried to make you agree to getting married under an arch of blooming roses!" I teased.

"Yeah, yeah," Al snorted. "That was one of the tamer suggestions. I've given up arguing. I'm just going to let them do whatever and at the end of the day, I'll be married. That's all that matters."

"It's barely two months away! You must be excited." I said, smiling.

"I can't wait," Al said, with that look in his eyes that said he was the happiest he'd ever been. Al wasn't exactly one to scream and laugh when something good happened (unless it had something to do with Quidditch, or James getting in trouble) but you could always tell when he was happy. "Whatever happens, it's going to be amazing, especially with you and Scorpius up there with us."

"If I'm even still talking to either of them." I muttered.

Al put down his tea to lift my face to his, looking shrewd once more. "C'mon, Rosie," he told me. "The blow out with you and Scorpius I'm used to, but I _know_ you miss Bea. How long are you going to keep this up?"

"Honestly?" I shrugged as Al let go of me to take another sip of his tea. "I don't think we'll be able to speak again unless Healer O'Sullivan and I split."

Al sighed, exasperatedly. "Look, I don't want to get into the middle of this by hearing your side and making me agree with you," he said. "Isn't there someone else you can talk to? Someone impartial? Someone who's had experience with this sort of thing before?"

* * *

"Libby!" I called, waving at my friend from across Café Julio. Libby waved back, drinking what looked like a milkshake with a straw and the second I sat down next to her on the comfy sofa in the crowded café, she shoved another one in my hands. "Oh – thanks –"

"Rosie, this is a milkshake time, don't even argue it." she said at once.

"Er, ok," I glanced around the café, looking for one of my favourite cousins. "Is James working today?"

"And have the nosy bugger listening in and trying to influence you? I don't bloody think so!" Libby snorted. She smirked then and said, "I left him chained to my bed."

I accidentally inhaled some of my milkshake and started hacking and coughing. "Oh – god!" I cried. "I _really_ – didn't need to know that!"

"Oh, relax, I was joking," Libby waved a hand dismissively. "… sort of. Anyway. What's going on? All you said in your owl was that it was about this new boyfriend of yours. Nice getting back out there, by the way! I reckoned it was high time you put that boy in his place and start thinking of yourself for a change."

This was why I loved Libby. She was blunt and sometimes said things you'd rather not hear, but in the end, she was wise beyond her years. She was a Ravenclaw for a reason. "Thanks," I said. "and yes, it's about Healer O'Hotness – sorry, Tony –"

"Can't you even call him his name?" Libby asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's only half of it," I said. "Do you want me to start from the beginning?"

"Oh, please do."

I thought. When _had_ this started? It had been before we got together. "I guess it began with my birthday party."

"What, seriously?" Libby asked. "That was about two months ago!"

"I know, but that was where I finally screamed at Scorpius that he didn't own me and that I wasn't going to waste my time pining when he was mostly to blame for all the hurt that'd happened."

"I heard about that!" Libby said, grinning. "I mean, it wasn't hard, you were screaming that loudly, it was no wonder he scarpered …"

"Well, you're right!" I said. "It might've been two months ago, but up until that point, I think I'd been sitting and toying with the idea of Scorpius in my head. I didn't know how to suddenly be single again. But all he did was keep hurting me and while bits of it may have been my fault, I don't know, I needed to get him out of my brain if I wanted to live normally again!"

"Well, he's out now, yeah?" Libby asked me.

"More than he was two months ago, at least," I told her. Answering in any other way just seemed dangerous. "So then we skip to roughly three weeks ago, when Healer O'Hotness called me into his office."

"And you still don't know why?"

"He says he heard all about me from my friends and wanted to get to know me better," I shrugged. Libby looked sceptical at that, but let me continue on, regardless. "I don't know what happened, really, Lib. He was hot, he was asking me out and I've spent the past six years in something so serious and intense! I just needed to get away from all that and Healer O'Hotness seemed like the perfect opposite."

"Ok, so you got off," Libby took another suck from her milkshake. "What then?"

"Well, everything went dramatic."

"Doesn't it always?"

"It's Bea." I said and Libby's eyes widened.

"Ah," she said, putting her milkshake down. "So that's why you're here, yeah?"

"Yes."

"Well," Libby eyed me for a few moments, her fingers placing with a lock of her hair. It was a nervous gesture I hadn't seen on her in a while. "Rosie … you know I don't want to take sides, right?"

"I'm well aware with the concept," I said, trying not to sound too bitter. "I've already been palmed off by Al onto you because he couldn't handle me being mad at his fiancée."

"Well, in that case," Libby straightened, letting her hair go. "Rosie, you know that you could have sex with flipping anyone and I wouldn't care less. You're a free spirit as far as I'm concerned. And I understand your need to get away from the kind of relationship you had before. I just … I just hope you know what you're doing."

"I have no idea what I'm doing!" I cried. "That's why I'm talking to you!"

Libby just smiled grimly at me. "Y'know, Rosie, I must say, out of the twelve years I've known you, I don't think I'd ever expected to have to have this conversation …"

"_I_ never expected to have this conversation."

"Well, back to the point in hand," Libby said. "The only advice I can give you is this: is this relationship worth throwing away your friendship with Bea? Because ultimately, that's where it's going to end up if you keep at this. No matter how right or wrong you are to be mad at her, she's not going to see reason. She's getting _married_, and her best friend is off gallivanting with her boss from work! You can see why she'd be worried about you, right?"

"I don't care! She had no right to say those sorts of things to me–!"

"I know! Geez, Rosie," Libby patted my shoulder gingerly, as if afraid of coming too close. I've felt that pat before. Have no idea why. "I'm not even telling you that you should apologise first. I just want you to really think, because I'd hate to see a friendship like yours get destroyed over something as stupid as this."

"Thank you," I told her. "No, seriously," I added, since Libby just looked surprised. "I needed to hear that. Thanks."

"Oh, you know I'd do anything for you," Libby said and she threw her arms around me. I hugged her for a few moments more than I normally would have, but it had been harder than I cared to admit not having my Bea to hug. Libby would never be the same or replace her, but it felt a bit better to be close to her, especially since I loved Libby as well. Eventually, she pulled away so we could finish off our milkshakes and I asked her,

"So! Have you found a new flatmate since your last one left?"

"Nah, not exactly … I had one girl move in for about a week, but she was quick to leave again. Said she was trying to find a new place because she'd just broken up with her boyfriend and couldn't stand James and I being all happy-clappy."

"I still can't believe you're with him, to be honest," I pointed out. "I mean, if this was normal James, he would've kicked you to the kerb and you've be snogging someone else by now!"

"How the hell did this happen?!" Libby laughed. "We've swapped places!"

"I think everything is just crazy at the moment," I told her. "Unhinged, almost. Like if one little thing snaps, everything will go teetering over the edge."

"Speaking of teetering over the edge," Libby added. "James wants to have a little get together this coming weekend. You're not working, are you?"

"By 'little get together', you actually mean 'huge riot party that eventually gets shut down by the Law Enforcement at five am', right?"

"Of course."

"No, definitely not working!" I grinned.

"Good, 'cause it's going to be brilliant!" Libby said. "You can even bring your 'boyfriend', if that's even what you're calling him. God knows the scenes it'll cause and I could do with a laugh. Or a scream, which is probably more accurate."

* * *

In the end, I did actually have to work the night of James' 'little get together', but luckily, it had been an evening shift, rather than another long night of looking after sick kids. I loved said sick kids, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't appreciate it when I collapsed from exhaustion on top of them. Even better, Healer O'Hotness said he'd come with me! Ok, I figured that it was a recipe for disaster, but I wasn't going to sit through another night of watching Scorpius snog Sophie. Bea could just get over it. Healer O'Hotness didn't seem too keen on the idea at first – apparently, he rather feared for his life, having heard from the hospital gossip that my family/friends were nuts – but eventually, he agreed.

"I have no idea why I'm doing this …" Healer O'Hotness muttered as we walked back from the hospital around ten thirty at night. I hadn't even been sure whether to take his hand or not. This was the first time we'd met up outside of his flat! But I'd reached for it and he'd taken it with a squeeze, so I guessed it wasn't over the line.

"I've got no idea why you're doing it, either," I pointed out. "If you cared about your survival in any shape or form, you'd be running for the hills!"

"Maybe I'm a daredevil."

"You _mix potions_ for a living," I raised an eyebrow at him as we approached my street. "How much of a daredevil could you possibly be?"

"Hey, sometimes, you need to be willing to take a few risks in that lab!" Healer O'Hotness laughed, flashing me his spectacular smile. "Only the other day, I accidentally added a wrong ingredient; entire place was covered! I don't think your mate liked it very much. In fact, I'm pretty sure she got the worst of it–"

"–what the _hell _is that noise?" I cut over him, barely listening. My block of flats was just across the street; I could see my own bedroom window, dark and quiet. However, the entire bottom floor of the building seemed to be lit up, every single light on and some ungodly noise blaring out. In another time, I might've thought it was _music_, but there was nothing in this world that could convince me that the screeching bass was music!

Entering the building just further proved that James was mental. "Hell, Libby wasn't kidding when she said this'd be a riot!" I exclaimed, ducking a bloke I vaguely recognised from James' work, riding the shoulders of one of his friends. He was running down the hallway, along with what seemed like the entire population of London. The door to Libby's flat was wide open and people seemed to burst in and out like the hallway was just an extension of the lounge room beyond. I couldn't even begin to imagine the annoyance of our neighbours and sure enough, only a little bit down the hall I saw a grumpy man in his dressing gown yelling himself horse at more party-goers.

"LIBBY!" I roared once I dragged Healer O'Hotness through the crowd, into the actual flat. It was just as packed inside, if not more so. Every now and then I spotted someone I knew, but most people I had never met in my life. Eventually, I saw Libby over by the wireless, apparently trying to find new music to play. "_LIBBY_!"

"ROSIE!" Libby yelled back, hugging me. "I'M SORRY IT'S SO LOUD!"

"WHAT?!"

"I SAID, I'M – OH, FOLLOW ME!" she screamed, taking my other hand and pulling me after her. Healer O'Hotness let me continue to drag him after me, so we moved until we were in the equally crowded kitchen and Libby could slam the door shut. The music was by no means softer, but at least I could hear myself think.

"What the hell is going on?!" I cried. "Who the hell are these people?!"

"Ah, god knows," Libby said, rolling her eyes. "James insisted that it was just 'mates from work', but I think someone sent out a mass owl and now, we're getting complaints from the neighbours."

"I don't blame them!"

"Ah, well, one of the Muggles will call the police soon, I'm sure," she shrugged. "Until then, have a good time! Oh, sorry – you are?" she added to Healer O'Hotness, though her eyes sparkled. She clearly already knew, but was going to make me introduce him anyway.

"Oh, this is, er, Tony," I said, gesturing. "Tony, this is my good friend, Libby. This is her flat, but the one responsible for the party is her boyfriend."

"Nice to meet you." Healer O'Hotness said, politely.

"Y'know, I think there's some people we know out in the courtyard." Libby told me, still with that sparkle.

"Thanks," I told her, rolling my eyes. "Heal – Tony – c'mon!"

At the end of the ground floor hallway, there was a courtyard that looked over the street. It was the ground-floor equivalent of the balconies that were at the end of the upper floors and sure enough, the first person I spotted once we reached it was Sophie, Scorpius not far behind. My feelings towards Sophie were still somewhat wavering between jealousy and like, but I couldn't help but enjoy our conversations whenever we'd happened to be in the same room. As for Scorpius, I'd been ignoring him basically ever since I'd screamed at him on my birthday. Watching him now, I couldn't figure out how I felt. It was a twinge of something that was two parts anger, one part hurt and another part of something I couldn't identify.

Something that made me want to have fun with this.

I grinned. "Hey, Sophie!" I called out across the courtyard.

"Rose! Hi!" she said, making her way towards us. I noticed that Scorpius stayed at the wall of the courtyard, watching us through narrowed eyes. "I'm glad you could make it, I think this party's gotten a little bit crazy!"

"Oh, that's bloody James for you," I snorted. I tugged on Healer O'Hotness's hand and made him step forward. "This is Tony, by the way."

"Oh, Scorpius told me about you," Sophie said, shaking his hand. "I'm Sophie. I guess I'm a friend of Rose's." She glanced at me at that and I just gave a weird shrug/nod. I wasn't sure what to call Sophie. 'Friend' seemed a bit far, but she was hardly just someone I knew.

"Tony," Healer O'Hotness's smile didn't seem to really reach his eyes – probably wondering if this was one of many people who was mentally insane – but he seemed to dazzle Sophie regardless. I noticed her smile back and as Tony explained he knew me from work, she mouthed to me, '_Damn, girl, he's hot_!'

I laughed, wrapping an arm around his waist and placing my other hand on his chest. I wasn't really that interested in making conversation, but Sophie was too lovely to say no to, and besides, there was someone behind her whose glare intensified every second I kept touching Healer O'Hotness. It gave me a very deep sense of satisfaction to realise I'd managed to get that out of him.

I could tell just by the look on his face was Scorpius seemed to be half mad, wrestling with the idea of coming over. I didn't know what I wanted him to do, so I let my instincts take over and I caught his eye … and winked at him.

That seemed to do it. Fire in his gaze, he began to storm through the crowd of people out in the courtyard, calling out and Sophie turned. Quickly, I glanced at Healer O'Hotness and felt obligated to mutter, "Um, just a word of caution, see the blond bloke coming over here?"

Healer O'Hotness raised an eyebrow. "The angry guy?"

"Yes, him. Just a warning, but he will probably try and kill you – Scorpius!" I cried in mock happiness. "What brings you over here?"

"Nothing," he ground out, practically ignoring Sophie, despite the fact that she was the excuse for approaching in the first place. "Just saying hello … who're you?" he added roughly to Healer O'Hotness.

"My name's Tony."

"Right," Scorpius folded his arms. "The boyfriend."

"How would you know?" I said to him.

"I listen to the gossip."

"Then you _must_ know how happy we are!" Just to piss him off further, I gave an unholy giggle and stuck my hand under Healer O'Hotness's shirt. I swear, a vein in Scorpius's forehead nearly burst.

"What the _hell_ are you doing, Rose?" Scorpius practically snarled at me.

"Oh, Scorpius," I said, Sophie staring between us like a bomb was about to go off, while Healer O'Hotness just seemed distracted that I still had my hand in his shirt. "Whatever do you mean?"

Just when I thought that Scorpius would actually flip out and strangle me – seriously, his hands twitched and everything – Sophie thankfully cut in with, "Um, y'know what? Tony, if you come with me, I think I can find us some drinks! So you're a Healer …?" her voice trailed off as Healer O'Hotness took her invitation with a grateful expression.

Pretty soon, it was just me and a very angry Scorpius. However, I was far from angry; hell, I was having fun! The expression on Scorpius's face made it clear that he thought Healer O'Hotness, or at least someone in his general direction, was the vilest thing to ever walk the earth. When he directed his look to me, I simply smirked. "What?" I asked as innocently as I could.

"Oh, for god's sake, you _know_ what!" he yelled.

"No, I'm sorry, I don't think I do," I said, still smirking. Wonder where I got that from? "It's clear you aren't _happy_ with Tony, but I have no idea why! He hasn't done anything to you."

"Give me a bloody break," Scorpius snarled. "There's_ no way_ either of you are in it for real!"

"I'll have you know that Tony is an amazing man and I wouldn't rather be with anyone else," I grinned. "Not that it's _any_ of your business, acting all jealous."

"I'M NOT–"

"Prove it," I cut over him. I took a step forward and leaned in close. He visibly stiffened … but that was what I was going for. I practically whispered into his ear, "It's not driving you crazy, right?"

"I …"

"C'mon, Scorpius," I leaned in even closer, my nose touching his cheek. I made sure to press my body up against his and glancing down, I noticed his hands twitch once more. This was killing him. I loved it! "Pull away from me. C'mon, you could _totally_ do it, right?"

"Uh …" Scorpius didn't move. In fact, he seemed rather frozen as I skimmed my nose down his cheek, the way I _knew_ drove him completely insane. "Of course–"

He cut himself off completely when I pressed my lips to his neck, just under his jaw. He let out a sound that I couldn't quite make out – mad, turned-on or murderous, I had no idea – and his hands moved. However, before he could do whatever it was he was planning, I just laughed, dancing out of his reach. I was dying to see his face, but I made myself not look back, flouncing away with a smile and feeling better than I had in a long time. It might have been silly and crazy, but that was sort of me at the moment. And what was life if you didn't go a little bit crazy every now and then?

Sophie was talking to Healer O'Hotness and she waved at me as she noticed me approaching. I didn't waste any time; I knew that Scorpius was still watching. As soon as I was within touching distance, I threw my arms around Healer O'Hotness's neck and kissed him full on the mouth.

At an out-of-control flat party in central London, one poor party-goer ended up being taken to St Mungo's due to being hit rather violently in the head with an empty Firewhiskey bottle.

I think everyone knew who to blame.

* * *

_Dear Rosie, _

_I hope you're not doing anything Sunday night. If you are, cancel. I'm coming over. _

_LL. _

Conclusion to Healer O'Hotness and going a little crazy:

-I kept imagining that Scorpius was basically in a jealous haze the entire night, since I stayed touching Healer O'Hotness pretty much until the police turned up an hour later. The entire time, Scorpius honestly looked like he was about to murder someone and didn't seem to notice anything else around him. The idiot deserved it.

-At one point, I ran into Bea. I hadn't been with Healer O'Hotness at that point and I was sure that she wasn't going to say anything. However, after staring for a few moments, she simply said, "Your boyfriend is waiting for you," before disappearing through the crowd.

-I miss her more than I care to express.

-I need Lily.

Rose: 21, Scorpius: 18.

(I can't believe it, I'm actually winning!).

* * *

A/N: _Jealous Scorpius_. Is there seriously anything greater?

I can't tell you how hard it was to not write Bea in any scene at all during this chapter, apart from the little mention in the conclusion. Thankfully, the next chapter does indeed exclusively feature our very own Lily Potter!

Please, keep the feedback coming! You have all given me over 300 reviews now and I want to thank every single person who has ever expressed their opinion in a review. You're all amazing. :)

Until next time -

-Moon. :D


	24. The Lily One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, Lily Potter, dickfaces or reunions.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 23: The Lily One.

There's nothing quite like Lily Potter travelling thousands of miles, just to sort out you relationship problems. True to her short letter, she had tumbled out of the fireplace Sunday evening, so brown that I couldn't tell what was soot and what was skin. I hadn't realised how much I had missed her until she was hugging me and we were both shrieking with joy.

"God, I missed you!" I cried, pushing her back by the shoulders to simply stare at Lily. "You look so different since I last saw you!"

"When was that? Christmas?" Lily asked, her brown eyes sparkling.

"I think so," I said. "But look at you! Your hair is so long! And you're so tanned, I don't think I would've recognised you if you hadn't come straight from my fire place."

"Oh, shut up," Lily smirked. "You know that's not what I'm here for."

"Right," I glanced down, unable to meet her eye. "I guess you want to hear the story?"

"Please!"

Thankfully, Bea was over with Al, so I didn't have to handle the awkward situation of talking about her to Lily with Bea only a few rooms away, because no doubt my little cousin would want to know every single detail of my life. We were quick to throw on pyjamas, drag my duvet off my bed and jump onto the sofa, the two of us curling up together.

I splurged out everything to her. Once I started, I couldn't seem to stop. I explained everything that had happened basically since Scorpius and I broke up. Half of it Lily already knew through my letters to her, but she didn't complain. In fact, Lily simply sat there, taking everything in.

"… and now I'm with Healer O'Hotness, but I'm not in love with him, and Bea hates me, and–!"

"Ok, Rosie!" Lily jumped in. "If I don't cut you off now, I'm afraid you'll ramble for the next million years!"

"Sorry."

"It's fine," she said, rearranging herself so she rested her legs over my lap and curled up into the corner of the sofa. She just looked at me until I gave an uneasy smile and she burst into laughter. "Ah, hell, Rosie!" she said. "No matter what stories I come up with in my head, your actual life is far more entertaining!"

"Gee, thanks."

"I don't know why you always insist on coming to _me_ with your problems," Lily pointed out. "Not that I find it annoying, if anything it's kind of funny, but I'm two years younger than you! My only serious relationship was six years ago!"

"That's why I need _you_, this time," I insisted. "That's why Bea's …" I trailed off. I didn't want to think about Bea more than I had to. It just hurt.

"Look, Rosie, I get that Scorpius hurt you," she said. "I don't care what you say about her being nice, I swear when I meet this Sophie, I'm going to ask what's wrong with her! But you said you relatively got over that, didn't you?"

"Well, it still hurts a little," I shrugged. "But I think a part of me will always hurt a bit when it comes to Scorpius. Not enough to matter, at least."

"Right," Lily nodded. "So why am I here? Why are you pouring out your soul to me on your sofa?"

I sighed. "It's Bea."

Lily gave me a grim look. "No matter what you say, I can't imagine the two of you not speaking." she said, softly.

"I miss her so much, LL," I admitted. "I miss having my best friend! But she's insisting that going out with Healer O'Hotness is a mistake and that it's the stupidest thing I've ever done! She might be right, but she's my best friend! She should have supported me, no matter what I did, right?"

Lily spent a moment thinking. Then, she said slowly, "I think the two of you have been through a lot."

"Exactly!" I cried. "So she should apologise, right?"

"Uh, well–"

"Thank you! I knew there was a reason I loved you." I said, reaching out and squeezing her hand.

"_Rosie_," Lily said, a little exasperation creeping into her voice. "I know Bea said some hurtful things. But she's not the only one who needs to apologise."

"Damn," I said, tugging my hand back. "I was afraid you'd say that."

Lily laughed. "Look, I'm not saying it's _your_ fault!" she said. "But it's not all _her_ fault either. She might have insulted you, but you went out with him anyway, even though you knew that she wasn't happy with it and that it could ruin your friendship. In her eyes, she probably took that to mean that you cared nothing about her."

"But–"

"I _know_ you still care," Lily cut in before I could get any further. "I'm just telling you what Bea probably thinks, ok?"

"You know, I think the entire world shifted the day Lily Potter was born," I said, giving a small smile. "I don't know how you make me see sense."

"It's a gift. With brothers like James and Al, it's not hard to become the perceptive one," Lily suddenly gave a mischievous look. "Speaking of my brothers, I hear that James goes out with your mate, Libby, now?"

"Yeah, ever since March!" I told her. Then, noting her unbelieving face, I said, "I know, we all looked rather like you do now."

"Hell, I just never expected that from James!" she said. "I mean, _James_! This is the bloke who once considered it a challenge to eat something using his feet!"

"He still thinks that, if that helps?"

"Of all the people I imagined falling in love, it wasn't him." she just said, shaking her head.

I hesitated before saying what I wanted to say next. "… Lily, do you think I _am _doing something really stupid?" I asked. "I mean, clearly Bea thinks so, and I think so, but is it really so _wrong_? I mean, I don't feel a single thing for Healer O'Hotness! Sure, the sex is great, but I almost can't enjoy it because that's all it is; passion. There's no feeling at all."

Lily considered that. "Well, I don't think sleeping with your boss is _ever _a good idea," she said. "But you needed this, I think. Just, maybe next time, pick someone you don't mind introducing to your mum! You _haven't _told her, right?"

"I've already had a heart-to-heart chat with my mum this year," I told her. "That's quite enough for me. She'd probably start telling me some story from when she was my age and how much she loved Dad, and while their story is lovely, hearing it as their daughter kind of makes me feel nauseated."

Lily laughed. "Look, no matter what happens, Rosie, know that I'll always be here for you. I'll stay for a few days, then I'll head back out."

"What country were you in at the moment?" I asked her. I still always felt a bit let down whenever Lily mentioned leaving England once more, but I'd learned how to handle that a few years ago.

"Indonesia!" Lily said, eyes lighting up. "We finished New Zealand a couple of weeks back; I actually really miss it! We travelled around the Pacific Islands together, then most of the boys stayed back home there while I kept going. Dave wanted to see England again, though, so he said he'd travel with me as I made my way back for the wedding."

"I swear, you must have been to every country on the planet!"

Lily laughed. "Not quite," she said. "but I admit, I've managed to get around. You can see a lot in three years!"

"What else could there possibly be left to see?"

"Well …" Lily thought for a moment. "I started in Brazil and did the America's first. Then Africa. Then Europe. I was halfway through Asia when I skipped to Australia to see the Quidditch there and I've done all the islands. I'm pretty much going wherever I missed through Asia on my way back and I'll have practically seen the world. We even managed a trip to Antarctica! It was brilliant, but far too cold. Oh! That reminds me!" She leaned down to her huge travel pack on the floor at our feet. I swear that thing was almost as big as her, but she didn't seem to have any trouble manoeuvring it as she dug in a hand all the way up to her upper arm to grab something inside. She pulled out several key chains, all linked together. "These are for you! I hadn't gotten round to sending them yet!"

"Oh, god," I said, almost laughing as I accepted them. There had to be at least another twenty to add to my hundred plus collection. "LL, I swear, I don't need any more of these …"

"Nonsense!" Lily insisted. "I promised that I'd get you a keychain from every country I went to and I'm living by that!"

"I don't know where the hell to put them!" I cried. "There are some on my bag, but most are in a box in my wardrobe!"

"I don't mind, Rosie," Lily smiled. "So long as you have them."

"Are you going to keep travelling after the wedding?" There was basically nowhere else for her to go.

Lily just shrugged. "Who knows? I'll do whatever the world tells me!"

"I'll miss you if you go again," I felt compelled to try and convince her to stay. I didn't realise how often Lily kept me sane until she was gone. "Seriously, LL, my life isn't the same without you! Oh, and your mum will go spare."

Lily didn't argue my point, but she didn't agree with it, either. I took that as a relative win in my case and we spent the rest of the evening gossiping and eating our body weight in chocolate.

Because that's what little cousins are for, right?

* * *

"It's so weird that my little sister is sleeping on your sofa," Al said the next morning, drinking tea in our kitchen, because, well, when does he ever leave me alone? Sure enough, Lily was passed out, snoring on my sofa. She hadn't even stirred when Al came crashing in around half an hour ago. Bea had apparently opted to get ready for work at Al's place. I tried not to let it hurt too much. "I mean, I haven't had direct contact from her since Christmas!"

"You may not have noticed, but your sister is a bit of a free spirit," Rolling my eyes, I walked over to the sofa and pulled the cushion out from under Lily's head, whacking her with it. Lily yelped and nearly rolled off the sofa entirely. "LL! Wake up! Your brother would like some love!"

"Huh?" Lily sat up, bleary-eyed. Then, she noticed her brother, still holding his tea and looking sceptical. "AL!"

"Ah! Watch it!" he cried as Lily had leapt up and crossed the lounge in three bounds, throwing her arms around his neck. Al nearly spilled his tea from the force, but soon he was hugging his little sister. He'd never admit it, but I knew that sometimes Al resented the fact that I was much closer to Lily than he was. It didn't make any difference to our relationship, but I knew that it meant that any contact he could have with Lily, he was going to take. I smiled as I watched them for as long as I could before I had to start getting ready for work as well, thankfully not on a night shift today.

After what seemed like months of excited jabbering, Lily eventually left to go take a shower and I followed Al into the kitchen to find some toast to eat. He was still chatting away absently, talking about a mixture of Lily and his wedding.

"… so did you two get a nice catch up?" he finally asked me, once I was eating my second piece of toast.

"We talked for hours," I said, wondering whether to mention the reason she'd even come home in the first place. Noticing Al's curious gaze, I gave in and said, "… it was the whole Scorpius issue."

"I find it interesting that you call it 'The Scorpius Issue' rather than 'The Tony Issue' or 'The I'm Fighting With My Best Friend Issue'."

"Shut up," was all I could think to say. "I've been trying to figure it out …" Specifically a concept that was bothering me. Lily hadn't been much of a help. Bea was normally the one who I went to with sensitive issues such as this; but clearly that wasn't an option anymore. I hesitantly glanced up at Al. He loved me, despite everything that had ever happened. He never once wavered and he always stuck by me. For that, I figured he'd tolerate a couple of awkward questions about his sex life. "Look, Al, there's something bothering me and I need to ask you something …"

"Go ahead," he said, leaning against the kitchen bench. "Although I can tell from your tone that I'm going to regret saying that."

I nodded before blurting out my question, "You were in love with Bea when you first slept with her, right?"

As I expected, Al's face went bright red. To avoid gaping at me like an idiot, he quickly knocked back half his cup of tea, which of course only resulted in him burning his mouth. After watching him yelp and splutter for several moments with an apologetic expression, he turned to me and gasped, "Hell, Rosie … you don't half make things awkward …"

"I know, I'm sorry," I said, truly meaning it. "This would normally be a girl talk thing. But given the circumstances …"

"Can't you, I dunno, talk to LL or something?" Al asked, hastily.

"I already did! We mainly talked about Bea, but I mentioned it to her as well, and you know what she's like. She's pretty much under the impression that I can do whatever the hell I want," I rolled my eyes. "I need you to be impartial for me. I know it's kind of weird to discuss your sex life with your cousin, but …"

Al just shook his head, putting his tea down hastily. "Damn, Rosie," he said. "Look, fine, if this will help you … er, well, yes. I was in love with Bea before we even got together, so I was definitely in love with her when we first slept together."

"Do you think you still would have?" I asked him. "If you hadn't been in love with her, I mean. Would you have still …?"

Al stared at me for a moment. "I don't know," he said, eventually. "I think on some level, I've always known that there was something there, something I felt for her. Even if I hadn't have loved her at that point, I would have known that I would eventually, one day. And that, I think, would have been enough for me. What the _hell_ has brought all this on?"

"Before Healer O'Hotness, I'd only ever been with Scorpius," I said, trying not to sound desperate for an answer. "I was in love with him when we … y'know. But now …"

"You're not in love with Healer-bloke," Al realised and I nodded. "and you're wondering if it makes you a bad person if you sleep with him when you don't feel that way."

"I know that you probably can't help me," I said. "But it's kind of eating away at me! Add Bea on top of that, and I seriously don't know what to do …"

Al was silent for a few moments, in which we both just stood together and drank our tea, thankfully not burning ourselves anymore. I really didn't expect Al to be able to give me the perfect answer; he was getting married in two months! But to my surprise, Al put his tea down to tell me, "Rosie, I think this will come down to what you believe in. _Just_ you. Everyone is going to think differently when it comes to sex, even you and me. Some will say sex with strangers is fine, some will only ever do it with someone they're married to. No one is wrong and no one is right, and I can't make this decision for you. Do you understand that?"

"Yes," I said, my heart sinking. "I was afraid you'd say that."

It meant that I couldn't do it. I couldn't _keep_ doing it. For a while, it was fun; I got caught up in the experience of being with someone new, someone _different_ … but talking with Lily and Al had made reality catch up with me and as I stood in front of Al in my kitchen, I knew that there was no way in hell I could keep up the pretence of a casual relationship when I was just hard-wired for love. It was something in me, something I couldn't change, and something I didn't _want_ to change! I didn't regret saying yes to Healer O'Hotness – the relationship taught me a lot – but I wasn't about to keep it going.

I couldn't.

"Thank you, Al," I said, eventually. "I know half the time it doesn't seem like it, but I really do love you–"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door. Al and I just looked at each other. Who the hell _knocks_? That door is _never_ locked. Al and I were already here. Bea and Scorpius weren't going to show up anytime soon, and even if they were, they'd just waltz on in here like they owned the place.

I noticed Al silently counting on his fingers, like he'd missed someone, so I just moved for the door.

"_Ally_?"

"Good morning, Rose," my friend said once I'd flung open the door. She had clearly just come from work, still in her Healer robe and wearing an extremely strange expression. It was almost like she wanted to scream, but was containing herself. "I'm afraid I have something to tell you, and from witnessing other's experiences, I believe you will not like it."

* * *

"… ok, girl, back THE HELL up and start this again!" Lily insisted. I was too shocked to even elbow her for being rude.

The four of us were sitting at the table, simply staring at Ally. I was supposed to have left for work ten minutes ago, but I basically didn't care. Ally was already squirming from the uncomfortable-ness of the conversation, but she started again regardless.

"I just came from work," she said. "and Healer O'Sullivan tried to kiss me."

"Just … WHAT?!" Lily cried once more.

"LL!" Al cut in. Then he turned to Ally. "I'm so sorry about my sister, she wouldn't know manners, even if it bit her on the bum. I think she means to ask, are you _sure_ about this?"

Ally nodded, practically crying. I think she seemed most scared of my reaction. I hadn't said anything since she'd first blurted it out. "Rose, I didn't do anything to encourage this, I promise!" she insisted. "I was horrified! I was just working like normal and then he started talking to me about my _weekend_. I mean, honestly, that was unprofessional enough as it was! Then he started talking to me about the potion I was currently mixing and I thought he was going to let it go, but then he tried to _kiss _me and I freaked out and–!"

"Ally!" I cut in, stretching out an arm and squeezing her shoulder. "It's ok. I don't blame you. Not at all. I know you, I know you'd never do something like that."

Ally let out a large breath before giving me a shaky smile. "Thank you." she said, quietly.

"Well, I don't think it's ok!" Lily said, slamming a hand down onto the table. Yanking her wand out of her pocket, she claimed, "What's his address?! I'm going to teach that son of a bitch–"

"LILY!" Al yelled at her. "For god's sake, put your wand down! If this escalates to first-degree murder, I swear, I am NOT helping you dump the body!"

Lily grumbled for a moment, but she sat down once more.

I think I was still partly in shock. What the hell was going _on_? "Did … did he say _why _he was trying to kiss you?" I asked, hesitantly, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"Er, I think he said something about how he'd heard the other trainees talk about me and he wanted to make it his 'mission' to get to know me better."

I felt my blood start to boil at that. That's exactly what he told me.

"Who the HELL does he think he is?!" I yelled.

"Now _that's _the Rosie I was hoping to see!" Lily said, gesturing with a hand.

"I told him it was wildly inappropriate!" Ally nodded. "And then, I asked 'what about Rose?', because I knew that you went out with him, and he said, 'She's been a wonderful source of information, she told me all about you'!"

My mouth opened in shock. I couldn't believe this. We barely even spoke! I wracked my brains and suddenly, I felt my insides deflate. Really thinking about it, any conversation we'd ever had, he'd somehow managed to relate it back to the hospital and my friends there. Ally had come up on more than one occasion. The utter _bastard_.

"What, does he think that you'll just sleep with him for a good mark or something?!" I asked.

"I don't know! That was about when I ran!" Ally was pretty much crying now and I tried to tone down my anger so she wouldn't cry more. Al just summoned over a box of tissues and I moved my chair so I could put an arm around my friend, offering her a tissue. She took it with a grateful expression. "He'd been trying to talk to me the entire cycle, but it made me uncomfortable, so I did my best to just concentrate on the potions the entire time. Then today, _this_ happened. I didn't know what to do," she said, thickly. "I thought about telling Gerald first, but he would probably try and strangle Healer O'Sullivan, and the next person I thought of was you, so …"

"Ally, thank you for telling me," I said, honestly. "And trust me, we are going to make him _pay _for doing this."

I hated to leave Ally, but I was seriously late for work now and with my anger threatening to boil over, I didn't think it was safe to stay. I left her in the good hands of Al and quickly sent Layla with a message to Gerald. Al and Ally would explain when he got there. Lily seemed to be all for coming to work with me so she could gut Healer O'Dickface himself, but I made her stay at home. I needed the walk by myself.

The thing that made me angry the most was that in the end, Bea had been right. There _was_ a reason he called me into his office that day, and it wasn't because he simply wanted to 'get to know me better'. Ok, granted, I was only in it for the sex and was about to dump him, but that wasn't the _point_! You don't _seduce_ people to get closer to their friends!

I was forced to rush into work in a storm. It wasn't hard to figure out that I was furious, practically throwing my bag into one of the lockers and slamming the break room door behind me. Catie and the receptionist ladies had simply stared. The kids in my ward managed to keep my anger at bay, at least while I was working, but I was just about really to flip out and kill someone by the time I made it on break.

And then it got worse, because that was when I started asking around the other Healers. Not many people knew that we had been … well, not in a _relationship_, but together, at least, since Healer O'Dickface had said that it was best that Healer Williams didn't find out he was seeing a trainee.

Now I knew better.

"Healer O'Hotness?" one of the vultures, Saffron, had laughed. "_Oh_, yeah! He's gorgeous, isn't he? Hell of a kisser."

"He pinched my bum once," Sarah had shrugged. "I said that I had a boyfriend, but he didn't back off until the cycle ended."

Margo had simply giggled when I asked her and Bethany had answered, "Good ol' Tony, eh? Yeah, that was one heck of an easy cycle to pass!"

"Did none of you _ever_ think of mentioning this to Healer Williams?" I had insisted to several of the girls.

"Well, it was all just harmless really, wasn't it?" was pretty much the overall reply.

By the time my shift was ending late that evening, I was practically seething. From the stories that I'd gathered, Healer O'Dickface had been hitting on all the women scheduled in the potion mixing lab almost since he'd started working at the hospital, just over a year ago. Jono and I had even been the first trainees to have him as a supervisor. I hadn't been placed there since then and as far as I'd gathered, he'd started this just after that, but because he was so bloody _hot_, none of the girls had seemed to bother reporting him!

Apparently, Ally was one girl he couldn't touch. Hearing the story from Justine, another girl in the potion mixing lab, he'd been trying to get at Ally for several weeks, but hadn't managed to get anywhere near her, thanks to her shy nature and, well, Gerald. It wasn't too hard to figure out that he'd only approached me because he'd heard that I was one of her closest friends and that somehow, he'd use what I knew to get close to her.

"What didn't you do anything?! Wasn't it clear that Ally didn't like it?" I had asked Justine, exasperatedly.

"If there's _anyone_ strong enough to fend off Healer O'Hotness, it's Ally Carter," Justine had told me. "I'm not that close to her – no one is – and he hadn't actually _touched _her or anything, so I figured she was handling it fine by herself. It's not like I could get mad, anyway," Justine added. "We broke up two weeks ago; said it just wasn't working. I was just upset that I didn't get his _damn _fine body anymore! Figured Ally should be lucky!"

Two weeks ago, Healer O'Dickface had already been with me. I was going to _kill _him!

When I got home, slamming the door behind me, it was to find a note from Al, saying that Gerald had picked Ally up and that he would see me after work. By the sounds of it, Gerald had been fit to murder and apparently, he and Lily had gotten along rather well. With my little cousin apparently off visiting James, the only person home was Bea.

I hadn't expected to see her. She'd been basically living with Al since I left for the boys-only Healer course and that had only increased since this whole mess started, but there she was, sitting on the sofa and flicking quietly through channels on the P.V. She looked up as I threw my bag into the wall in frustration and burst out,

"Well, you were right about everything! You can throw a bloody parade!"

And I stormed into my room, slamming the door before she could say anything.

* * *

By the time I had woken up the next morning, I had formulated a plan. A plan to make Healer O'Dickface _pay_. Unfortunately, it involved the acting skills of several people and I feared that it may be the end of me.

"Tell me again how this plan is supposed to work?" Lily asked me, following me determinedly into the waiting room of St Mungo's.

She, Ally and I were about to make our way up to the potions lab on the third floor. Lily was looking half excited, half apprehensive, while Ally seemed about to burst from fear. Her role was the biggest in this entire grand scheme and after our hour-long meeting with our Secret Weapon this morning, she had been twisting her fingers together and chewing the inside of her cheek.

"Ally. It's all up to Ally," I turned to my good friend and pulled her fingers apart, holding her hands tightly. "You know you don't have to do this, right?"

"I know," she said, giving me a grim smile. "But I want to. I believe that those who do bad things need to learn and he hurt you as well as me."

"So we're taking that bastard down?" I asked.

Ally smiled. "Exactly."

"So basically, Ally goes in there, we wait until Healer O'Dickface comes after her, then we burst in with our Secret Weapon?" Lily asked as we started across the waiting room. I tried to avoid the eyes of the receptionist ladies. They were going to be rather disappointed once they heard about this. "Forgive me for saying this, but it doesn't seem like much of a plan. What if he doesn't prove what a dick he is?"

"Trust me, he will." Ally said, determinedly.

Outside the potions lab, we split into our designated team groups (or so Lily had called them; my cousin didn't exactly need to be here, but I think she just wanted to watch all of this play out. After all, it was sort of why she'd come back to the country). Ally entered the potions lab like she normally would for any other shift of work, while Lily and I hurried down the long, white corridor that ran adjacent to the potions lab. Scrawling on a piece of parchment and waving it off with my wand, I sent a message to our Secret Weapon:

_The lion has entered the den_.

I felt a bit like a spy!

About halfway down the corridor, Lily and I stopped. There was another entrance to the potions lab here, a side-door that was currently locked, but that wasn't our concern at this point. Together, Lily and I each drew a half of a square on the wall with our wands, meeting in the middle and creating a large rectangle; muttering a transparent spell, the window we'd created seemed to melt until it was like glass. Beyond, we had a perfect view of the potions lab; specifically, Ally's workspace.

She had her back to us, working at a cauldron across a walkway between the wall and the workspace. Several other potion mixers ran around, chopping ingredients and mixing cauldrons, but Ally just ignored them all, continuing to work as usual. Lily handed me an Extendable Ear from Uncle George's shop, and we thread them under the side-door.

Ally was humming to herself and I smiled as I watched her work in her element. Ally had said on numerous occasions that she wanted to work in the potions lab if she made full-Healer and I had no doubt she would. She was a natural at it and it was perfect for her. It was too bad that her experience here had been ruined by a dickface.

Speaking of dickfaces …

Healer O'Dickface himself soon came into view. Ok, he might still be attractive, but now when I watched him wave at Ally, I didn't feel a sense of someone wanting me and making me feel liked; I felt a mad desire to strangle him. Bea had been right in the end. Would _any _bloke like me, simply because I was Rose Weasley?

I tried not to think about the fact that yes, one bloke had.

"… how's it going, then?" I tuned back in to hear the conversation going on at the workstation.

"I am trying to concentrate on mixing this potion, Healer O'Sullivan," Ally said, turning to politely give Healer O'Dickface her attention. "Was there anything you wanted?"

Healer O'Dickface grinned, leaning against the table next to Ally. "You."

"I swear, I'm gonna …" Lily growled next to me. In my hands, I made sure to hold a parchment and quill, my wand between my teeth and simultaneously trying to keep the Extendable Ear steady. It's hard work being a spy.

"Healer O'Sullivan, I have already explained to you that I will not accept your advances," Ally said, her voice shaking slightly. I knew that she was petrified of Healer O'Dickface coming anywhere near her and I wanted to kill him when he took a step forward and grabbed at Ally's waist to stop her from taking several steps back.

"Aw, c'mon," he said. "I know all about you! You can't deny we have something special …"

"You only know about me because of Rose!" Ally cried, squirming. "Please let me go!"

"Just listen–"

"Now!" Lily hissed and I swear I wrote faster than the speed of sound, flicking my wand in my teeth to send my message to the Secret Weapon:

_Enter the den, go, go, go! _

"C'mon!" I said to Lily and yanking the Extendable Ears out and shoving them into our pockets, we ran for the main entrance to the potions lab. Our Secret Weapon had clearly received our message, since he was nowhere in sight and I could only hope that he'd already reached the scene at Ally's workstation. Lily and I burst through the doors, startling several potion mixers as we ran through the tables of cauldrons and accidentally caused one witch to send pixie droppings everywhere as we crashed into her. I called back, "Sorry!" but we were already halfway across the lab, so I probably didn't sound all that sincere. Oh, well.

By the time we neared the other side of the wall we'd been listening from, I could hear our Secret Weapon on the scene.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing to my trainee?!"

"Oh, R-Robert!" Healer O'Dickface's voice said as Lily and I skidded around the corner. With a smirk of satisfaction, it was to see our boss staring down the bastard, hands on hips, while Ally stood at her workstation with a relieved expression.

Yes. Our Secret Weapon was indeed our boss, Healer Williams, Head of Healer Training.

"Look, this is a misunderstanding, sir–"

"Is it?" Healer Williams glared, his dark eyes narrowing. "Because to me it seems quite clear! You were touching Healer Carter in an extremely inappropriate way and did not seem to stop when she asked you to!"

"It was just some harmless fun–"

"Yeah? We'll see how much fun you're having when I suspend your arse for sexual harassment!" Healer Williams yelled, several potion mixers glancing around over the cauldrons to stare. Healer O'Dickface was looking like someone had just kicked him. "Healers Carter and Weasley and … er, whoever you are," He raised an eyebrow at Lily, but didn't comment. "I want you in my office in an hour to get the details. As for you!" He snapped at Healer O'Dickface, who seemed resigned to the fact that he was done for. "You're coming with me! NOW!"

"How did I do?" Ally whispered as she approached us, Healer O'Dickface trailing meekly behind Healer Williams.

"Absolutely amazing," I told her, eyeing our bosses. "Hang on, Ally, just got to do one thing–"

Before Healer O'Dickface could be led away to his doom, I held out a hand to stop him. Healer Williams kept his back turned as I stared up at the bloke who had said he wanted me. "Rose," he said. "Look, you know this is all crazy, right–?"

I didn't let him finish; I simply pulled back with my fist and punched him in the nose as hard as I possibly could. Healer O'Dickface yelled, hands flying to his face and I let out a satisfied laugh.

"Yeah, in case you didn't get it," I told him. "I'm _definitely_ breaking up with you!"

Healer O'Dickface simply stared at me through his fingers as Lily and Ally laughed behind us. Then, he turned to Healer Williams' back and cried, "Sir! Sir, did you _see_ that?! That's physical assault!"

"Hmm? Oh, what?" Healer Williams glanced over his shoulder, like he really couldn't be bothered. "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening."

* * *

"It's official," I said, raising my glass into the air. "Healer O'Dickface is getting suspended! When everyone else heard that he had to go in for a review against the CEOs of the hospital, some of the other girls finally came forward and now that it's come out that he's done this before, his entire _job_ might even be on the line!"

"I'm proud of you, Rosie," Al said, nudging me with the shoulder of the arm that held up his own glass. "It wouldn't have been easy to admit that you were wrong."

"Hey, that doesn't matter," I said. "The true hero of this tale is Ally! If she hadn't been willing to prove to Healer Williams that our story was true, he might never have been found out!"

"_To Ally_!" everyone cried, and I drank happily as Ally blushed a bright red.

Several of us had gotten together at the Leaky Cauldron to celebrate our success. Gerald and Ally had joined myself, Al, Lily, Libby and James. It seemed like a mismatched group, with several people missing and several others added, but finally, it didn't matter. Life was short. If you didn't take opportunities, then what kind of life did you have, really? Despite everything that had happened, I didn't regret saying yes to Healer O'Dickface. I know, he was a bastard, but the relationship had taught me a lot. It taught me that a relationship without love isn't really worth it. He gave me experience that made me feel more confident in myself. I wasn't a little girl anymore. I may have made some mistakes along the way, but in the end, I came out of this stronger.

That made it enough not to regret it … except for perhaps one thing.

"Rose?"

I turned, the others going quiet. Surprised, I realised that Bea had turned up. She still had her coat on, her hair windswept and looking nervous, but my heart expanded at the sight of her. Al had told me that she had taken a late shift at work, but here she was, standing right in front of me.

"Bea …" I said, standing. The others appeared to go back to their very intense conversations, though I knew that the idiots would all be listening in. "Oh, my god, you came. Look, I have to–"

"No, Rose, you have to listen to me first!" Bea cut in, grabbing my arm and dragging me a few feet away. "I'm so sorry for everything I said! I was out of line, I'm your best friend, I should support you, no matter what decisions you make and I _do_, I swear–!"

"Bea!" I cried and she fell silent. "It was my fault as well. I'm sorry, too. I hate fighting with you, I hate not talking to you and you were right, anyway."

"What d'you mean?" Bea asked, looking confused.

I glanced back behind me at Al. He quickly looked back at the table, like he was completely absorbed in the old wood. I raised an eyebrow at him, but he didn't take any notice. "You mean Al didn't tell you?" I asked, turning back to Bea.

"Tell me what?" she said, hesitantly. "All he said was that you lot were going out tonight and to join if I wanted. I wasn't going to come, but I missed you too much, and after you yelled at me last night, I just wanted to talk again–"

"Bea, _you_ were right," I told her. "About Healer O'Sullivan. He's sort of Healer O'Dickface now. You were right, he didn't flirt with me because he liked me, he flirted because he wanted to get off with Ally and she wasn't having it."

"He _what_?!" Bea cried.

"Oh, it gets better!" I insisted. "He kept up our relationship to find out more about Ally through me, all while hitting on other women. Ally told me about him coming onto her and today, we got our boss to witness it first-hand. We came here tonight to celebrate us getting him _suspended_."

"You … holy _shit_," Bea's eyes were wide. "I don't believe this!"

"I didn't want to believe it," I admitted. "But it turned out ok in the end … and you were right to warn me off this entire fiasco."

"Oh, my god, Rosie," Bea didn't say anymore; she just flung her arms around my neck and held on tightly. I hugged her back, grinning into her shoulder. I'd missed her and her hugs so much, I thought I might never let her go. I heard Al whoop behind me and the others laughing. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for everything I said. I came here tonight because I love you and I hope you'll forgive me."

"Even if this hadn't have happened, I would have forgiven you anyway," I muttered. "I missed you too much."

After another moment or two, we broke apart, smiling at each other. "C'mon," I said. "Have a drink and celebrate with us!"

"You lot _need _to tell me this whole story from the beginning – holy shit, LL! Is that you?!" Bea cried, noticing my red-haired cousin sat next to her brother. I remembered that Bea had been out whenever Lily had been home and my best friend shrieked as she practically shoved Al out of the way so she could throw her arms around Lily's shoulders.

"Yeah," Al said, rubbing his head. "We have a lot to explain tonight."

Conclusion to dickfaces, getting my best friend back and, well, Lily:

-If there's ever a disaster, call Lily Potter. She'll know what to do.

-Healer O'Dickface had better rot in hell. It's too bad, really. Scorpius bloody hated him and he really was rather hot.

-That night, Bea had ended up having 'Rosie and Bea Time', curled up together in my bed, talking and gossiping about everything that had happened since … well, this. I knew that after this mess, the two of us would be able to get through anything.

Rose: 22, Scorpius: 18, Lily: a million.

(Where the hell do these points keep coming from?!).

* * *

A/N: Healer O'Hotness was always a dickface to me. A Healer _that_ hot? When I introduced him back in the fourth chapter, I figured that he'd have girls crawling after him, so why wouldn't he make the most of it? Rose and Healer O'Hotness were never going to last long, but it taught Rose what she needed. She and Ally got him back in the end. :) I'm very sorry to those who may have liked him.

I hope you all enjoyed this - Rose and Bea back together, Dickface put in his face, Ally saving the day and LILAAAY! The next chapter finally features our dear Douchebag-Scorpius with more drama, but hopefully he won't be so much of a douche anymore.

Thank you SO MUCH for all your reviews! You're seriously all AMAZING.

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	25. The Truthful One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, blackmail or apologies.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 24: The Truthful One.

"GAAAAHHHHH!"

That was what I woke up to; someone screaming their lungs out in frustration. Grabbing my wand, I leapt out of bed and rushed into the lounge expecting to have to whip out some serious curses. However, all I found was Bea on the sofa, the coffee table in front of her completely covered in bridal magazines, parchment, quills, and something I recognised as a Muggle mobile phone, currently buzzing on the coffee table. She was currently swearing and in the process of ripping her hair out.

"Bea?" I said, lowering my wand. "D'you mind keeping the wedding-screams on the down-low? Some of us are still working night-shifts!"

"It's one in the afternoon!" Bea told me, seemingly thankful for the distraction. "You should be getting up anyway, I feel like I haven't spoken to you in forever."

"You're just trying to get me to do all this wedding shit for you, aren't you?" I said, shaking my head and sitting down next to her.

Bea looked like she was on the verge of crying. "I'm supposed to be writing my wedding vows," she told me. "I thought it would be fine! Just write about how much I love Al and bam, it's done! But no one mentioned how bloody _hard_ this is and that DAMN PHONE WON'T STOP RINGING!" She slammed a hand onto the phone desperately before turning her crazed look onto me. "It's not working, I can't handle this, Rosie–!"

"BEA! It's ok!" I cried, since Bea seemed to reaching the end of her tether. In light of our recently repaired friendship, I decided not to go for a joking calm down. Instead, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and said, "Just breathe, we can get through this! Forget the vows for a second, who keeps calling you?"

"My sister," Bea said, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply through her nose. "She gave it to me because she keeps wanting to call and complains that I won't answer our home phone anymore! She just keeps wanting to confirm all sorts of bloody things, like the song list and wedding programmes and seating plans and I don't care–!" The phone suddenly started buzzing again and Bea's eyes snapped open. Oh, dear. "AHHHH!" she screamed.

"Calm down, it'll be fine!" I yelled, snatching up the phone before Bea could summon a hammer and beat it to death. The poor thing wouldn't see it coming. "Look, how do you turn this thing off?"

"Hold down the red button. Or smash it. Either one will work."

When the phone was safely off, I threw it down onto the floor. "There, see?" I told my best friend. "It's gone. It won't ring again. We'll barricade ourselves in here so Queen Godzilla can't hunt us down. Ok?"

Bea took several more deep breaths before nodding and I gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "There we go," I said. "Now. The second problem. These wedding vows. What's so hard about them?"

"I just …" Bea shook her head, leaning back into the sofa. "I've been trying to find the right words, but nothing I come up with does it justice. I'm a bloody writer for god's sake and I can't even write my own wedding vow!"

I couldn't even begin to imagine what Bea was trying to do. Expressing her love was one thing, but writing it down for hundreds of people to hear? I would have no bloody clue if I was in her position! While in the past I might have tried to get out of helping her, since our argument last week, I seemed to have gained a new appreciation for Bea and her wedding madness. So I tried to help her out.

"Well, what have you got so far?"

Bea leaned forward to glance down at the parchment in front of her. "'Al'," she said.

"Al what?"

"That's it! Just 'Al'!" Bea said, exasperatedly. "I don't even know where to _start_!"

"Well, how about the beginning?" I said. "'Al, I remember the first day I ever met you …'"

* * *

_That was when I spotted Al and he hurried over. "Rosie!" he cried. "I can't believe you're not in Gryffindor with me! Wish we'd gotten a chance to talk yesterday, but I had to keep up with the prefect, or I never would've found my way to the common room, it's fantastic there, by the way – hang on, is something burning?"_

_"Oh, that'll be my shoes," Bea pointed out. When Al gave her a questioning look, she added, "Er, long story. Don't ask."_

_Al snorted. "I won't. Who're you?"_

_Bea suddenly looked a little shy, but she said in a small voice, "Bea Bowmen. I'm in Rosie's dormitory and she pretty much just saved me."_

* * *

"Do we have to mention that?" Bea asked me. "I'd just been attacked by Scorpius! Not to mention he'd be standing right next to us at the time …"

"Fine, what about when you first fell in love with him?" I asked. When Bea stayed silent, I asked hesitantly, "… um, when exactly was that, by the way?"

"Well …"

* * *

_"Bea, I'm sorry." I said, placing an arm around her. Bea's eyes were watering as she leaned her head on my shoulder. As I rubbed her arm in what I hoped was a comforting manor, I managed to catch Al's eye from over at the Gryffindor table. He was over in ten seconds flat – sometimes I really love my cousin._

_"What's wrong?" he demanded as he shoved himself in the space between Bea's other side and some Fifth Year._

_"My cat died!" Bea said, clearly trying not to cry._

_"Blimey …" Libby muttered, reading the letter. "Says she got hit by a car … those are those huge Muggle boxes on wheels, right?"_

_"Nearly got hit by one myself, trying to get to Kings Cross last September." Jo said, giving Bea a sympathetic look._

_Al just threw an arm around Bea's waist, exchanging a look with me._

* * *

"… that was barely a year later!" I said in shock.

"I _know_ that," Bea rolled her eyes. "But it was Al being Al, Rosie. He was comforting and caring and I clearly didn't realise it at the time, but I _swear_, that was the moment I first fell for him."

"But you were _twelve_!"

"And my cat had just died, so I'm thinking that should be left out as well."

I sighed. This was proving to be rather difficult. "Well, what about your first kiss?"

* * *

_"Sorry," Al said, yawning. "It must be the tiredness catching up to me, making me say stuff. I've been doing that all day, I've been so ti–"_

_"Shut up!"_

_I was suddenly wide awake, as Bea yanked on Al's head and kissed him. There, in front of everybody. I just stared and stared until Bea pulled away, leaving Al looking dazed._

_"Are you going to shut up now?" Bea asked, angrily. "I _will_ do that again, if you don't."_

_"You're kidding me …" I said, staring from my best friend, to my cousin._

_"Bea, you just _kissed_ me …" Al said, sounding like he was about to faint._

_Bea gave an embarrassed cough. "Yeah well, it was to shut you up, Al! You never shut up!"_

_"Sure it was …" I teased._

_"_You_ shut up as well." Bea threatened, stabbing a finger at me._

* * *

"I was angry, tired, and Al looked too cute when he yawned, despite the fact that his voice was giving me a headache," Bea said, warily. "To me, that moment really doesn't scream, 'in ten years, we're going to be getting married'."

"Hell, Bea, you're _really _not making this easy." I pointed out.

"I'm sorry!" Bea cried. "Look, I swear, I'm going to be bald by the time I get married, because I'll have ripped all of my hair out! I just don't know where to start because our entire love story seems to be mismatched and crazy!"

"It could be worse," I pointed out. "You could've been me and Scorpius."

Bea rolled her eyes. "_That_," she said. "I admit I should be thankful for."

"Makes me feel better," I muttered, but I couldn't complain, not since I'd brought it up. I didn't actually mind that much about making jokes about it. It made it easier to remember and when I did, I could sometimes manage to remember the good times. It made life that much easier.

"I thought I could start with the day we started going out," Bea said then, fingers in her hair; I was forced to tug her hand away. "But then when I actually remembered …"

* * *

_"… you … love me?"_

_"Erm, I can't really deny it, can I?" Al said, weakly. I gave a snort of laughter, and they both turned to glare at me._

_"No, you can't," Bea said._

_"Well then … Bea, I love you."_

_Bea nodded. I saw her hide a full-blown grin by saying, "I guess I … well, I kind of … love you, too."_

_"Oh, okay," Al said. Bea gave a smile and ... well, nothing._

_They didn't say anything else._

_They just sat there._

_Looking awkward. In fact, I swear everyone starting coughing just to try and cover up the silence. Al and Bea shifted awkwardly and I scratched my nose, wondering what the hell was wrong with my best friends. I wished a giant dragon would swoop in and devour everyone, just to ease the tension! I swear it was so intense–!_

* * *

"Rose," Bea cut in, looking at me. "I think you're warping the truth a little there."

"Oh, fine," I huffed. "But I swear, that's what it felt like."

* * *

_They just sat there. _

_Looking awkward. _

_"'Oh, okay'?!" I said, sighing exasperatedly, not able to help myself. "That's all you're going to say?! You've got to be kidding me! Al, you love Bea! For Merlin's sake, _do_ something!"_

* * *

"You know, I'm starting to pick up a pattern here," I cut in on the trip down memory lane. "Every pivotal point in your relationship seems to include _me_, somehow!"

"Oh …" Bea actually thought about that. "Holy crap … you know, I never noticed that until now, but you're _right_. Everything I can remember, _you _were there!"

"_There's _your start point – me!" I said, happily.

Bea just laughed. "Oh, thank you, Rosie," she told me. "I'm sorry. I know this mustn't be very fun for you."

"On the contrary, it's been rather amusing going back to all those years ago," I said. "I feel kind of special now."

"Oh, Rosie," Bea laughed. "I can only imagine what you'll be like when you get married!"

That really did shut me up. Yeah, I'd always thought that I'd get married someday and to be honest, watching it really happen for Al and Bea made me truly consider it. But the only person I'd never pictured getting married to was currently off gallivanting around with an awesome blond who went by the name of Sophie, so _that_ particular dream was pretty much non-valid now.

"Oh," Bea seemed to have noticed my expression. "I didn't mean … sorry …"

"Bea, it's fine," I said, as cheerfully as I could. "Honestly, that might have stung a bit, but I think I'm actually ok with all this."

"By 'this', we're not still talking about the wedding, right?" Bea asked, raising her eyebrows.

I snorted. "No, not exactly," I glanced up at Bea and grinned. "Did I ever tell you about what I did at that huge party James threw?"

"No," Bea said, eyes going wide. "The weirdest thing I'd heard happened at that party was one of James' mates getting arrested for indecent exposure! What the hell did you _do_?"

"Well, I can assure you I didn't get arrested," I said quickly, since it was clear on Bea's face that she was imagining all sorts of crazy scenarios. "It was back when I was with Healer O'Dickface. And I sort of flaunted him in front of Scorpius. I swear, he nearly punched him!"

"Oh, my god!" Bea laughed, staring at me.

"It gets better!" I continued. "I basically challenged him to tell me that he wasn't jealous, but I was almost all over him at the time. He couldn't even _speak_ and before he had a chance to do anything about it, I ran off and kissed Healer O'Dickface in front of him!"

"How bad was the carnage?" Bea asked, grinning.

"A Firewhiskey bottle to the head for one poor bloke and what looked like murder plans running through his head the entire night," I told her. "I was sort of hoping for a fisticuffs at dawn scenario, but I'll take what I can get."

"Merlin …" Bea shook her head. "Y'know, Rosie, if you can still get a rise out of Scorpius like that …"

"Oh, don't go there. _Please_," I said at the look on Bea's face. "Look, I'm finally happy with my life! I really don't need any more drama."

"You're a _Weasley,_" Bea pointed out. "I don't think you'll ever be completely rid of drama! I mean, you _are _cousins with LL, aren't you?"

I just laughed at that. Lily had gone back to Indonesia the morning after our celebration at the Leaky Cauldron. I had cried and hugged her, but she'd still gone, regardless. It didn't even seem to occur to me that I shouldn't be so sad to see her go, because she was only going to be back again in a month for Al and Bea's wedding; I was upset anyway. But no matter what, I was glad that she'd taken time out of her busy life, seeing the world, to come and help out her favourite cousin.

"Bea, I'm so glad we're friends," I eventually said. "You know I'm actually glad Scorpius set your shoes on fire."

"Gee, thanks."

"No, I mean," I rolled my eyes at her, squeezing her hand. "If it weren't for him, I probably never would have grown so close to you. So yeah, I feel like I sort of owe him one, even if it was also the moment I decided that I hated him."

"I thought that was from the moment you met on the train?"

"I think I was reserving judgement at that point," I told her. "But seeing him lash out at you just for fun … that made me so mad, I wanted to hit him. Even so, I wouldn't have changed that day, because that was also the moment I met you."

"Makes you look at us in wonder when you realise that eleven years later, we're all friends!"

"_Well_ …"

"Yes, yes, ok," Bea rolled her eyes. "_Some_ of us are friends. You know what I mean."

"Honestly, Bea," I said, tugging on her hand. "I really am fine. Complete truth."

And it actually was. This was new.

* * *

"Healer Weasley, guess what!" Tyla asked me, practically jumping up and down on her bed. "Guess what, guess what!"

"What?" I asked, smiling as Tyla's mother tried to get her daughter to stop making her head ring.

"Healer Pyne-Smith said I can go home tomorrow!" Tyla flopped down onto her bed, her golden curls bouncing.

"I would be surprised if he _didn't_ say you could go!" I told her, glancing over Tyla's chart. "What with you bouncing off the walls. Are you glad to be going home?"

"Yes, I miss Pinky!" Tyla said with her toothy grin. Pinky was Tyla's pet rabbit that she had been talking non-stop about ever since she was admitted, two weeks ago. "Susie said she would feed Pinky for me, but I don't believe her."

"Tyla, darling, I'm sure your sister is doing the best she can." her mother said, but Tyla was already off, talking a hundred miles a minute about all the things she was going to do once she went home.

Little six-year-old Tyla was one of the many children I was currently working with in the magical diseases department. She had been rushed in with a very severe case of Dragon Pox, since the disease had managed to spread to her throat and affected her breathing. Luckily, she had made a full recovery, thanks to my Healer Supervisor, Healer Pyne-Smith.

I was right at the end of my cycle here and I was dreading it. I didn't want to leave! Tomorrow was my last shift on the wards, and then Healer Pyne-Smith would be assessing me and judging whether I'd passed or failed the cycle. But I was having the time of my life here! Sure, over my nearly five years of being a training Healer, I had worked in the children's ward before, and loved it, but I hadn't wanted to rule out any of the other options. But like Ally and her potion mixing, I seemed to have found the place for me.

"Hey, Kate, how're you feeling?" I asked the girl in the bed next to Tyla. The two girls had been admitted around the same time and had become fast friends.

"My tummy still feels poorly," Kate told me, curled on her side. Her father was currently with her, holding her hand and for some reason, Kate was still smiling, despite the fact that occasionally she would vomit up fairy dust. "But look! My tooth is so wiggly now, I think the Tooth Fairy will be coming soon!" She opened her mouth and wiggled her tooth with her tongue.

"Darling, your love of fairies is what got you into St Mungo's in the first place." her father sighed.

"That is COOL!" Tyla cried, jumping over onto Kate's bed and sitting herself down next to her new friend. "Katie, when we're both all better, you have to come to my house and we can play fairies!"

"Daddy, can I, pleeeeeeease?" Kate begged.

While he assured the girls that they would have to wait and see, I determined that they were both ok for now. I rotated across the other patients, all varying in ages from about two, to twelve. I spoke to eight-year-old Ben about his new toy rocket ship. I tried to tell apart a set of twin girls who had managed to give each other the same bug. I had to duck little George's sandwich being thrown at my head and his mother apologising profusely. I loved working with these kids because they sort of made me feel like anything could be possible. Fairies exist. Rocket ships will eventually have entertainment facilities that include the latest whack-a-Grindylow game. These children will get better. My life is getting better. Simple things like that that made all the difference.

Soon, we started transitioning to our night phase. The children started falling asleep as the lights dimmed and Healer Pyne-Smith came in to check that everything on the ward was running smoothly.

"How's it been down here, Healer Weasley?" he asked me in a hushed voice, near the doors at the end of the ward.

"Fine, everyone's recovering smoothly," I reported back to him. "Kate Maling still has abdominal pains, since she is still coughing up fairy dust, but apart from that, nothing has deteriorated."

"Well done, Healer Weasley," Healer Pyne-Smith told me. His compliment made me feel like gold. "I must say, you have really taken to this cycle."

"I think so, too, Healer Pyne-Smith."

"You still have your final assessment, but I'm fairly confident that you will have _no_ problems with that," Healer Pyne-Smith told me. "How about you go on break now and when you get back, we will–"

I never found out what I was going to do once I got back from break. In the end, I never went on break at all. It was at that moment that Bethany Cowan, working in long-term diseases while I was in short-term, came bursting in through the doors, absolutely hysterical. "Rose! Rose!" she was crying and Healer Pyne-Smith immediately rushed her out into the corridor. Her voice had woken several children.

"Bethany!" I cried, trying to calm my friend down. "What's going on?! It's not Bea or Al or–"

"N-no!" she gasped, like she had run all the way here. "It's Nathan Christov! He was absolutely fine when he went to bed, but he suddenly found it hard to breathe and now he won't wake up and–"

None of us waited for the rest of the story. Our feet pounded as we burst into the dim long-term children's ward for magical diseases. Nathan Christov was nine-years-old and had been in St Mungo's for over a year when he developed Vanishing Sickness internally. He had to be closely monitored at all times, since any or all food and drink he consumed would disappear and as a result, he had nearly died from starvation or thirst on several occasions. His mum and dad practically lived with him at the hospital and currently had a room to himself.

Another trainee Healer, Davina Katic, who was in her second-year was already there, the lights on in Nathan's room and his parents hysterical. "Move!" Healer Pyne-Smith demanded and Davina darted to the side at once.

"We don't know what happened, he was fine when he went to sleep!" Mrs Christov was crying, her husband standing next to her with his arm around her.

"Healer Katic," Healer Pyne-Smith said to Davina. "Please escort Mr and Mrs Christov out into the corridor and support them the best you can."

"Yes, Sir!" she said and she quickly led them out.

Nathan was lying on his side, his floppy brown hair sprayed all over his face. I actually might have believed he was still asleep, but he was unresponsive as Healer Pyne-Smith waved his wand to turn him onto his back. "Nathan, is it Healer Pyne-Smith, can you hear me?" he said, but again, Nathan didn't respond. "Talk to me, Healer Cowan!" Healer Pyne-Smith said, running his wand all over Nathan's small body, looking for signs of deterioration. "What was your initial assessment?"

"I believe that the Vanishing Sickness has expanded to his organs," Bethany said. Her face was fearful for the little boy's life, yet she managed to remain calm. "It was our suspicion. This initial difficulty in breathing leads me to believe that parts of his lungs have vanished. He will be unable to breathe soon enough."

"Well done, that was my assessment exactly," Healer Pyne-Smith breathed. "So! Healer Weasley," For some reason, he turned to me. "What are you going to do about it?"

"_Me_?" I said.

"Healer Cowan called for you, did she not?" Healer Pyne-Smith said quickly. "Not for me, or any other supervisor, but for _you_ specifically! If she believes that you can heal his boy, then I trust her judgement."

"Sir, I …" But I paused. Bethany _had_ called for me. Why? If this had happened to me, I would have been screaming for my boss in an instant! But the weird thing was, I thought I _did_ know how to save Nathan. I remembered preparing for an outbreak of Vanishing Sickness on the illegal Healer course. It was very vivid in my mind, since Daniel had practically dive-bombed poor Jono in an attempt to secure a contagious patient. We had quickly been taught how to deal with outbreaks properly and I remembered the process and spells to do so.

I didn't even think. I just saw Nathan's little face and knew that I couldn't let his life end here. Not when he had so much potential. I set to work straight away, dragging my wand across Nathan's chest and murmuring all the while. The sickness tried to eat away at my spells, but I didn't let it. I forced it back and kept repairing the damage done. By the time I was convinced that the sickness wouldn't break through, I glanced up and realised that Nathan's breathing had gone back to being slow and steady. Wiping the sweat from my face, I turned to see Bethany staring at me in amazement and Healer Pyne-Smith looking sceptical.

"That is something I have only seen top Healers be able to do," he said. "How in Merlin's name did you know how to do that?"

"Er," I hesitated. "Read it somewhere. Good thing I study, right?"

Thankfully, Healer Pyne-Smith sent us out to inform Nathan's parents that their child would be perfectly all right for now while Healer Pyne-Smith stayed to record the night's events into Nathan's charts. One glance at Mr and Mrs Christov's delighted faces was enough to tell me that I'd made the right decision, even if I'd only made my supervisor suspicious in the process. As Bethany and I headed back down the corridor to the Healer's station on the second floor, I asked,

"Why _did_ you call for me?"

"Oh," Bethany said, tossing her long brown ponytail over her shoulder so she could hide her face. "There's … been some rumours going around. And I figured that you would know what to do."

"What rumours?!" I said in horror. I'd withstood some interesting rumours in my lifetime, specifically thinking of one in fifth-year where someone had spread it round that Scorpius and I were going to the Hogwarts Ball together because I was threatening to kill him. Yeah.

"Oh, they're nothing!" Bethany said at once. "If anything, they're good rumours! I'd just heard that if there was ever a go-to person when I needed one, it would be you!"

"And how did you get to that assumption, Beth?" I asked my friend. When Bethany didn't answer, I grabbed her arm and made her stop dead in the middle of the corridor. A Healer who was levitating a pile of clean sheets behind us swore as she nearly walked into us, but I ignored her. "C'mon, you can tell me …"

"Look, no one knows _officially_," Bethany muttered. "Because, well, if they were true, then you'd be fired! But there are _some_ who are saying that … you snuck onto that Healer training course with the boys back in February. The one with the Belgian Healers? You disguised yourself and went anyway."

I couldn't think of anything to say other than, "_What_?" Ok. So it was completely true, but I'd lose my job if I admitted that! Bethany looked half apologetic, half proud. "You've got to be kidding!"

"I know! I figured if there was a stickler for the rules, it'd be you! Er, no offence," Bethany added. "But, well, I wasn't sure whether to believe them or not. But back then with Nathan, I just called for you. And let's face it, you came through …"

"Bethany, I know what you're thinking," I said, hurriedly. I couldn't let this continue. "But I swear, whoever told you this has made the whole thing up. Do you really think I would risk my _job_ over some silly woman's-rights act?"

"Of course! I know, it was stupid of me to even think," Bethany said at once with a shaky laugh. "But I would watch out … the vultures are out on the prowl and they all believe that you've got one up on them. They'll be looking to pull you down a peg or two, the cows."

Inwardly, I knew _exactly_ how these rumours must have started. Just the very thought made my insides boil with anger, but I couldn't let myself explode until I knew for certain. "Beth," I said, breathing deeply. "Who told you these rumours?"

"I don't want to–"

"_Bethany_," I insisted. "Please."

"I – I heard it from Shannen," she said. "And Saffron told her. But both mentioned Lucy's name."

* * *

An hour later, I was finally allowed on break, which meant I had an hour to fume in silence as I worked. I didn't even know if she was working tonight, but I still stormed into the trainee staff room with a thunderous look. There weren't many people on break, just a couple of yawning first-year trainees, a few vultures, Jono, and lastly Bethany, who was hurrying behind me. But I saw her across the room, sat with Saffron and Charlize and I snapped.

"YOU!" I practically screamed. "LUCY HARLEY, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Everyone cried out as I more or less jumped the table to reach her. Harley had shrieked, leaping up in an attempt to get out of the cross-fire, but I was so angry that I didn't even think when I jumped down in front of her. Jono was just yelling that I should calm down when I abandoned my wand completely and punched Harley straight in the nose.

"YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER BITCH!" I yelled as Harley started crying, her nose now bleeding profusely.

"ROSE!" Jono cried, darting over and throwing his arms around me, since I had raised my fist again. He yanked me back as Saffron and Charlize spoke loudly in frantic tones, trying to get Harley to look at them, rubbing her on the back and directing her to the nearest chair. "Rosie, stop this now!"

"Let me go! I want to kill her!"

"That's what I'm afraid of!" Jono yelled in my ear. "Bethany, help me!"

Bethany grabbed my fist and forced it down to my side. All the yelling attracted the receptionist who worked the nightshift, Kelly, who came running in to see what was going on as I tried to force my mind to not think about ripping Harley's head off. Eventually, Jono and Bethany managed to get me to sit down and Kelly was forced to call for the Chief Healer on duty. Knowing my luck, it would be Healer Williams or Healer O'Satan. I glanced up at Harley, almost feeling sorry for punching her, but when I saw her being healed by her friends, I felt another wave of fury seize through me. The bitch never kept to her word. I knew I never should have trusted her to keep the secret. I'd done what she asked! I left Scorpius alone; I hadn't spoken to him for over two months! Clearly, it wasn't as alone as she liked. Did she really hate me _that_ much?

Desperate to get some answers before the Heads showed up, I got to my feet and yelled, "Why did you _do_ it, Harley?! I did what you wanted me to!"

Harley just glared, tear stains and blood still on her face. "Like bloody _hell_ you did!" she cried. "I told you to lay off him! To stop hurting him and what did you do?! You continue to _break his heart_, every bloody _day_! I warned you what would happen if you didn't listen–!"

"I haven't broken his heart!" I yelled, my gesturing arm apparently alarming Jono and Bethany that I would jump her again, since they quickly leapt up and grabbed a wrist each, holding me back. "He's with Sophie now, he's completely over me! You're making up shit to make my life _hell_!"

"Over you?! Don't bloody joke!" Harley screamed. "He told me all about your birthday and when you went out with that Healer bloke! It hurts to see him in so much pain!"

I just gave a strangled laugh at that. She thought _he _was in pain? Try watching your ex go out with another girl two months after breaking up with you! He had deserved everything I'd yelled at him and everything I had done at James' riot party. So I just continued to scream at her some more, my words probably not even making sense, but I didn't care.

Eventually, I was cut off, as that was when Healer Williams turned up. Of bloody course. He sent out a blast from his wand that could be heard, even over all the yelling. "What the BLOODY HELL is going on?!" he roared into the silence and every single one of us launched into a screaming story. Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore and poor Kelly had to throw her hands over her ears as Healer Williams sent another blast ringing through the staff room.

"Right. Healer Harley and Healer Weasley; I think you two had better come with me. _Now_."

* * *

The meeting hadn't gone well. To cut a two hour yelling session short, basically Harley officially announced her accusations of me sneaking onto the illegal course, I denied everything, and Healer Williams yelled at us to shut up. Any rumours at this level of accusation, he explained, had to be dealt with swiftly. He remembered Cesario from the course. He remembered only last week when I had been telling him the truth about Healer O'Dickface. He was willing to hear me out.

He said if I wanted to prove Harley wrong, I would have no objection to inviting my cousin in there to have a meeting with us.

Harley had smirked at me and I felt my heart sink. That was it. I was utterly screwed. The two of us were both sent home from our shift early, as punishment for starting a fight in the staff room, but that was the least of my worries.

"I hope you realise you got what you deserved," Harley shot at me as I stopped at my front door and she continued down to hers at the end of the corridor. "I warned you."

I couldn't even find it in me to answer back. Travelling back here to the same block of flats together had been the most awkward, horrible experience I'd ever had. Now, I miserably let myself in, clutching a dreaded letter in my hands; the official call for a hearing with my imaginary cousin.

_To Cesario Weasley, _

_I am Healer Robert Williams, Head of Magical Accidents and Catastrophe's, along with Head of Healer Training at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I am writing in regards to your cousin, Rose Weasley, who is a fifth-year trainee Healer at my hospital. _

_You may recall the emergency-procedure training course we completed with the Belgian Healers in February this year. I am afraid that there have been several severe accusations made against Healer Weasley in regards to this training. In particular, she has been accused of impersonating you and going on the course herself. This is, of course, a sensitive matter, since we completed this course with the Belgians on the pretence that we respect their cultural traditions of Healing being a male's profession. If these accusations against Healer Weasley are true, then I shall have no choice but to terminate her training. _

_I request a meeting with both you and Healer Weasley at nine o'clock am, on Monday 18th June. I hope that you and your cousin will be able to explain to me how these accusations may have arisen and I am counting on you assuring me that they are false. _

_I expect your confirming owl no later than June 15th. _

_Regards, _

_Chief Healer Robert Williams. _

_Head of Magical Accidents and Catastrophe's. _

_Head of Healer Training. _

_St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. _

It was clear from Healer Williams' face that he was becoming sceptical of there ever being a real Cesario in the first place and that perhaps it really had been me all along. So, obviously, I was completely screwed. Having only worked the first few hours of my night shift, it was about ten o'clock at night. Bea was probably in bed already; the wedding planning had been making her head hurt and she'd started simply going to bed to stop thinking about it. I slumped down onto the sofa, flopping onto my stomach and throwing the letter onto the coffee table. I had no cousin to give it to. I was going to be _fired_ and all because I had insisted on showing some male Healers that girls deserved the same chances as them! This was my fault as well as Harley's.

Well. I don't have to admit that too often. It's a lot easier blaming everything on her.

I had just decided that an entire night's worth of moping was in order and that I wasn't going to move an inch, when the front door banged opened. I glanced up and suddenly, my insides were all over the place. Scorpius had decided to show up.

"Bea?" he called, holding several magazines in his arms. "You left all this wedding shit at ours – Rose!" He jumped and dropped all the magazines in shock. "I – I thought you were working tonight–"

"Was," I grumbled. "Got sent home early. My life sucks."

I could tell that Scorpius was dying to ask why. Even before we'd gotten together, I'd spent so many hours complaining to him about the woes of my life. Granted, that had mainly been because I knew how much it annoyed him and I loved getting a rise out of him, but still. The past twelve years, I've been complaining to Scorpius Malfoy! Still utterly angry, I'd been avoiding him and he'd been avoiding me. Ever since my birthday, we'd actually done a surprisingly good job not speaking! We had caved on several occasions (James' riot party being just one example) but overall, I realised that it really had been two months since I'd really spoken to him.

Why did that send my gut wrenching?

Scorpius waved his wand tentatively and the magazines all flew together to drop on the kitchen table. I glanced up at him and my heart made a strange painful twist. I was mad at him, I hated him, I loved arguing with him … why couldn't things be _simple_ anymore? I wasn't sure if I was quite ready to control myself when alone in the same room as him, or even remotely ready to forgive him, but I was in such a depressed state that I don't think I could have worked up the effort to strangle him. Lucky for him.

I needed _someone_ to talk to.

"I take it you want to know what happened, then?" I snapped.

He hesitantly sat at the kitchen table; it wasn't surprising since he was looking like I was about to snap and attack him.

"Erm … well, if you don't mind telling it …" he said, awkwardly.

"Well, fine! I'll tell you what happened!" I said, suddenly angry all over again. "Your bloody best friend happened!"

"What did Al do now?" Scorpius said, confused.

"Not Al!" I huffed, weaving myself upright so I could throw my wildest glare at him. "Harley!"

"Lucy?" Scorpius looked even more confused at that. "What d'you mean?"

"She _told_ everyone!" I hissed at him. "_Everyone_, about the illegal Healer course, about me sneaking in, pretending to be my cousin! Do you even _remember_ her blackmailing me with the information that she only knew because _you_ told her?"

"Oh, for god's sake, she wasn't _blackmailing_ you–"

"No! I have the right to say she WAS, because I've been called into a bloody _disciplinary hearing_ because of her!" I shouted at him. I grabbed the letter off the coffee table and screwed it up before lobbing it at him. He caught it and smoothed it out. "Me and the cousin that doesn't exist have to go to a meeting with my boss! If he thinks Harley's telling the truth then my career as a Healer is over!"

"Bit of a pickle …" Scorpius muttered, reading the letter.

"_Bit of a pickle_?!" I cried. "It's a bloody nightmare! I'm _screwed_, Scorpius, and all because of idiot you and your idiot friend!"

"Oi!" Scorpius snapped back. "You weren't even supposed to go on the course in the first place! If Lucy told, she must have had a good reason! I didn't put her up to it or anything–"

"For Merlin's sake, I'm not accusing you of that!" I said, frustrated now. "God …"

"Well, why _did_ she tell then?" Scorpius asked me. "If you really think she 'blackmailed' you, then you obviously didn't keep up to your side of the bargain–"

"I did!" I retorted. "I kept to it, but she told anyway!"

"Well, what did she want you to _do_?" Scorpius asked, rolling his eyes as he slammed the letter down onto the bridal magazines. "Because clearly you both had different ideas about it!"

For a while, I thought about an answer. I wasn't sure if I wanted to admit to him what Harley had asked of me. It had been a while ago and I was in a different place now than I was then. But in the end, I figured more lying and secrets would do more harm than good, so I told him, "She … wanted me to leave you alone," Scorpius's eyebrows disappeared into his hair at that. "She … she wanted me to basically leave your life. Stop causing fights. Stop screaming and throwing things. She wanted me gone."

"I see," Scorpius said, slowly. "It's no wonder she told."

"_What_?"

"Rose, you can't honestly tell me that you think that you've stayed _out_ of my life!" Scorpius said, exasperatedly. "Everywhere I look, you're there!"

"You're KIDDING me! YOU were the one who showed up to my birthday!"

"Ah …" Scorpius went awkward again, glancing back down at the table. "The fight. In the kitchen. I told her about it. And James' party last month, when you were with … that Healer bloke." He spat out the words like Healer O'Dickface deserved to be spat on. I mean, he did, but Scorpius had no idea about that fiasco, at least as far as I was aware …

I gave an exasperated groan. "You _seriously_ need to find another friend to bitch about me to."

"Look, I'm sorry, ok?!" he suddenly yelled. "I'm _sorry_! I didn't mean to gate-crash your birthday party! There was an issue at home, I had to leave the oven on – I needed Al – anyway, none of that's the point–" He cut himself off, taking a deep breath. I stared with an incredulous expression.

Was he … trying to apologise? I didn't except this to _ever _happen!

"Rose," he said eventually, getting up from the table. He walked over and sat at the other end of the sofa, facing me. I practically fell back to the other end, not sure if I could handle him being so close. His face was serious; in fact, the only other time I think I'd ever seen him so serious was at his mother's funeral.

Suddenly, I felt so bad about _all_ of this. What the hell must Astoria be thinking at this moment? She had loved me, even if her husband had thought I was a bitch, and she must be looking down at Scorpius and I, wondering where the hell everything went wrong. Why we'd screwed everything up. She'd be horrified to realise the things we'd done to each other, especially the things we'd done to each other on purpose. Using other people. Physically maiming. Ignoring. Trying to make each other angry.

We'd been so childish. Both of us. We were as bad as each other.

_I'm so sorry, Astoria_.

"I know you probably don't want to hear this," Scorpius was saying desperately next to me, talking to his knees. "I know you hate me and are angry at me and you have every right to be! I deserved everything you screamed at me that night on your birthday, I haven't been fair to you and I didn't take your feelings into consideration at all when I asked out Sophie – I – I'm sorry …" He glanced up and I found myself staring at his dark blue eyes. Astoria's eyes. "I know that we can't go back to the way things were when we were together. But I can't stand not talking to you, at least just to argue! We … I don't even know what we are anymore, but I'm still sorry for everything. I'm even sorry for having a bitch of a best friend who hates you," Unwillingly, my mouth gave a slight twitch at that. Never in his life had he apologised for being friends with Lucy Harley and he didn't have to. "I'm sorry you're in trouble at work and I'm sorry I hurt you. That's … that's basically all I can say without getting on my knees and grovelling."

For a while, I didn't know what to say. His words were ringing in my head and I kept thinking that perhaps, Astoria would be proud of her son. "To … to be honest," I began, eventually with a slight smirk. "I kind of want to see you grovel …"

Scorpius groaned, falling into the back of the sofa and I let out a laugh despite myself. "Rose – you – UGH!" he cried, arms gesturing madly to the air. "You're impossible! Can't you just take the apology?!"

"After the hell you put me through? No way!" I said, happily.

"Look, I need you to know something," Scorpius said, sitting up at looking at me seriously. "Sophie … I want you to know that she's not a consolation prize. We'd known each other for a few months before we got together and the entire time she knew I had a girlfriend, so she never said _anything_ about fancying me. After we broke up, she took the chance and hinted that she liked me. She didn't know how serious we were. Rose, I never intendedto hurt you. Admittedly, there was probably a small part of me that wanted to throw it back in your face, but mainly I was torn up about you and I figured why the hell not? She might make me feel a bit better about myself, about everything and she was so nice and not …"

"… me." I said, quietly. Sophie was basically everything that I wasn't; nice, sweet, normal, doesn't scream or have a crazy family and friends who consider it their life ambition to be as weird as possible.

Scorpius nodded at me, then said, "Now, she's for real," Scorpius said again. "Over the past couple of months, I've grown to really like her. And while I know it hurt you, going out with someone else so quickly, I hope you see now why I did it. And now we can both be happy, right? Me with Sophie and you with your … y'know, Healer bloke …"

"Oh, didn't Al tell you?" I said, about as casually as I could get. "We broke up."

"_What_?" Scorpius stared.

"Oh, yes, dumped his arse," I said, waving a hand dismissively. "The sex was mind-blowing, but it turns out he was a right dickface."

Several emotions flashed on Scorpius's face then and I realised that I'd done it again; I'd hurt him on purpose by oh-so-casually pointing out that I'd slept with someone who wasn't him. I mean, it hurt having to hear him talk about how happy he was with Sophie; I'd have to be a robot to not let it hurt. But, seriously Rose, you know his intentions now and he's just sincerely apologised to you. Astoria would be ashamed of the both of us.

Eventually, Scorpius seemed to swallow whatever hurt emotions he had and simply said, "Whatever he did to you, he's a bastard, and I will honestly kill that son of a bitch."

And that right there decided it for me.

"I know you would," I said, softly. "And I know. About Sophie, about everything. I know you weren't trying to hurt me. I actually rather like Sophie. I still don't really like you," I pointed out and Scorpius glanced up at me with a slight smile. "But you were strong enough to apologise and I think I'm strong enough to forgive you. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry, too."

A smile started spreading across Scorpius's face at that and I looked away so he wouldn't see me smile as well. I wasn't quite ready for _that _yet. He was still with Sophie after all. "I forgive you," he said quietly and for a long moment, neither of us said anything, just sat at our opposite ends of the sofa and grinned into the somewhat less tense air.

I hope you think a little better of us now, Astoria.

Eventually, Scorpius cleared his throat. "So!" he said, flicking his wand and sending the letter from my boss floating back over to us. He stared at it once more before asking, "What the hell are you going to do about this mess?"

"I don't bloody know, do I?" I said. "If I had a _plan_, d'you think I'd be sitting here with _you_?"

Scorpius just snorted, still reading. "So … you have to go to a meeting with your cousin and your boss?"

"Yes," I said. "Which will be a bit difficult, seeing as that particular cousin isn't real."

Scorpius thought for a moment. Then, he placed the letter down before pulling out his wand again and summoning over a spare piece of parchment and quill from the drawer in the kitchen. When he started writing, I scooted over in confusion. "Er, what are you doing?" I asked him, trying to read over his shoulder.

"Writing a return owl, confirming the time of the meeting," Scorpius said, matter-of-factly. He glanced up and said, "Best to send it right away. Can't have your boss thinking I'm lazy as well as a liar now, can I?"

It took a moment for his words to sink in. When they did, I swear my face split with joy. "You _can't_ be serious?" I said, hardly daring to believe it.

"Of course I am, Rose," Scorpius countered. "Even _I'm_ not the complete and utter bastard I know you think I am sometimes. I've watched you train for this for five years and like _hell_ am I going to see you throw it away over a stupid mistake."

"Oh my god, Scorpius, thank you!" I shrieked. I swear, my brain went on holiday and without thinking, I threw my arms around his neck. The force of my hug nearly made him go flying off the sofa, but he hugged me back, arms tight around my waist. I felt my mixed up feelings for Scorpius all over again, but I started to recognise that one part of something that had, up until this point, been previously overshadowed by anger and pain.

It was _not_ a new feeling.

Conclusion to telling the truth, Scorpius Malfoy and Lucy Harley:

-I know I've been saying that I'm going to kill Lucy Harley for years now, but today I honestly felt like I wanted to hurt her. Maybe not _that _seriously, but I swear, one day, I will make Harley pay for this.

(Ok, so I wasn't supposed to go on the Healer course in the first place. Can we _please _just overlook that minor detail for now?).

-Scorpius had muttered, "You're welcome," into my hair and from the tense grip of his arms, I was pretty sure he was feeling the exact same as me. It made me let go rather quickly and we spent the rest of the evening writing the letter and making plans to turn Scorpius into my non-existent cousin, Cesario. Oh, and bickering the entire time.

-I will somehow fix this, even if it means I'll owe Scorpius forever for pretending to be my non-existent cousin for me.

Rose: 22, Scorpius: 19.

(Ok, fine, Scorpius wins this one).

* * *

A/N: You didn't think nothing would come of Harley's blackmail, did you? Of course not! To be honest, I don't know who's more at fault here; Harley shouldn't have told, Rose shouldn't have gone on the course in the first place. Everyone seems to be as bad as each other in this story.

I hope you all enjoyed this, it's been rather painful not having Rose and Scorpius in the same chapter. :)

The flashbacks to Al and Bea's relationship was inspired by the _Friends_ episode, 'The One with the Vows'. I couldn't help it. I swear I nearly went overboard and just had an entire chapter of flashbacks, but I restrained myself. Barely.

_Also note:_ if you have read my profile, you will know that I am a student teacher. For the next four weeks, I will be on teaching practicum at a local kindergarten. Just as a warning, I tend to go a little crazy during prac, involving a lot of sleep-deprivation, working until I pass out, getting sick thanks to all the germs and lots of emotional crying when I can't get things right. I will still update ... but add this to the fact that I've somehow managed to get hooked onto a another awesome book series with 30 plus books to get through (the _... In Death_ Series by JD Robb if anyone cares), please don't be worried if the next chapter doesn't come out when it normally does. :)

Thank you once again for your TOTALLY AWESOME reviews!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	26. The Flirty One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, flirting, puppies or deranged sisters.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

_This chapter is dedicated to one my best friends, Catie. I told you this one would be for you. x_

* * *

Chapter 25: The Flirty One.

"Good morning, Healer Williams!" Scorpius practically bounded into my boss's office the second his secretary had given him the say so. Located on the ground floor, near his department, the two of us had been sitting for what felt like ages, jiggling our legs and gnawing on our fingernails. Well, ok, that had basically just been me. Scorpius had been the one who tugged my fingers out of my mouth and whacked my leg to stop me jiggling.

Now, he was waltzing in here like he owned the place. We had spent several hours this morning (well, probably an exaggeration) charming his hair red, twisting it around my wand to make it curly and picking clothes that screamed, 'gay love-child of a circus freak'. That had probably been the least nerve-wracking part of the morning, where I had forced Scorpius into suspenders. Anyway.

Basically, he resembled a very convincing male version of me, also known as Cesario Weasley. We had gone through every cover story I had told, including the ones I had made up on the spot, to ensure that we could somehow get away with this. "You're kidding me, I have to be _gay_?" Scorpius had yelped that morning when I had explained what I had told Gerald.

"Yes and your boyfriend's name is Hyperion!" I had insisted. Only after saying that out loud did I remember where in fact I had gotten that name from. Scorpius had just raised his eyebrows as I'd cringed.

"… Cesario and Hyperion?" he had asked.

"Um, yeah," I had coughed awkwardly. "_No_ idea where I got that."

Which was a blatant lie, but I got the feeling he knew that, so I just dropped it. Thankfully, Scorpius did as well and now he was going to town, selling it. "I'm so sorry about all this, Healer Williams," Scorpius was saying, shaking Healer Williams' hand. For some reason he was speaking strangely with a guttural accent that I'm sure he thought was convincing. "Let's sort this out straight away!"

"_For god's sake, I said be gay, not Russian_!" I hissed at him under my breath as we all sat down.

"_You said I was brought up in Romania_!"

"_That's about as far from a Romanian accent as _– good morning, Healer Williams!" I added hastily, since my boss was glaring at me critically. I tentatively sat down in one of the two chairs placed in front of his desk.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm, Healer Weasley," Healer Williams said, dryly. "Healer Weas–" He cut himself off in a sigh, since it was clear that he was trying to address Scorpius this time. "I'm afraid using your proper titles may get confusing. For the sake of this meeting, may I refer to you as Cesario and Rose?" His glare said that we would certainly have no choice either way.

"Of course not!" Scorpius said, cheerfully.

"Sure." I squeaked.

"Right. Cesario," Healer Williams turned to Scorpius. "I want you to listen closely to what I'm about to say. Everything in this meeting will be recorded. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Rose," Healer Williams stared back at me. "There have been accusations made against you, regarding an ethical dilemma, which I trust you are aware of. For the record, they are this: that you impersonated your cousin, Cesario Weasley, and under the disguise of a male, snuck onto the emergency-procedure training course in February of this year. You have been accused of doing this willingly and in knowing that you were disrespecting the cultural practices of another country, namely our guests from the Brussels Wizarding Hospital, where Healing is carried out only by males. Such a breach in ethics, should I decide that these accusations are true, is damaging enough that your training as a Healer at this hospital would be terminated. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir." I said, again with that high-pitched, squeaky tone that I use when I'm nervous.

"There has also been another accusation that Cesario Weasley was just a front, a disguise for sneaking onto the course," Healer Williams narrowed his eyes at Scorpius, who was sitting ram-rod straight. "As he is sitting right before me and that it has been seen that his wand is registered as Cesario Weasley, it has been proven that _that_ particular accusation is false."

I breathed a sigh of relief. That had been the one hurdle we hadn't known how to face. It had taken an extremely weird trip to the Ministry of Magic, General Affairs Office, so Scorpius could officially change his name to Cesario Weasley and then bribe the clerk so it would be approved overnight. Scorpius hadn't been too chuffed with the thought of officially being a Weasley, at least for a few days until we had a chance to go change it back, but it was literally all we could think of within the timeframe we had.

"But there is still the matter of Rose's supposed impersonation," Healer Williams glared at the both of us. "So Cesario, in your own words, I would like you to describe to me everything that you believe to have happened."

It was crunch time as Scorpius started talking. From Healer Williams' probing questions, I could tell that he was trying to get Scorpius to trip up, mention something that I hadn't done on the course or be unable to answer something, because I'd forgotten to mention it. But Scorpius was amazing, somehow ploughing through all the questions without fail. There was only one sticky moment when he had faltered, when Healer Williams mentioned Dom and the catering company.

"Dominique Weasley was our caterer for the event," he had said and I had frozen. Shit. "While she was perfectly adequate at providing our meals for us, I did notice her greet several of our trainees … enthusiastically," A very mild way of saying that she tried to get into everyone's pants. "I can't imagine that Weasley is a popular last name, so surely she is related to you, too. Did you notice her at all during the course?"

"Oh, yes," Scorpius had ever so quickly glanced at me from the corner of his eye. He didn't know how to answer this one, his gaze told me. He knew that we had all gone out to the pub, but I hadn't thought to tell him about the relationship I had made up between Cesario, Dom and Rose. I prayed to Merlin that he would make up the right answer. "I met up with her later in the week, then several of the boys and I went out to the pub for the night. She happened to be there as well. As for during the week, I said hello, of course, however I kept my distance. Dom, bless her, is a bit of a free spirit and I know that she can cause a bit of trouble when she wants to. I didn't want to disturb the learning's of the course. I fear in my lack of speaking to her, I may have offended her!"

Oh, thank the lord that fit with what had happened. Naturally, Dom had never even heard of Cesario before, so she had flirted with me, as you do, and was as shocked as ever when she realised it was her little cousin, Rosie. In Healer Williams guessing we were related, it would have been suspicious if Scorpius couldn't explain why Dom and Cesario barely spoke. Thankfully, Scorpius managed it.

Healer Williams, thankfully, seemed to accept his statement and continued on. Scorpius kept talking, all the way to Healer Hot-Arse bursting in, announcing that there had been a shop explosion. At this point, Scorpius said that he had wanted to do was quickly get back to his own hospital and ensure that he had efficient numbers on staff, should reinforcements be needed to call in.

"I never received an owl, so I assumed everything had been handled," Scorpius shrugged. "It wasn't until your letter that I realised that these silly claims had been made against my cousin!"

"I see," Healer Williams said, still not looking like he was going to let me off scot-free anytime soon. "So can you explain why you enquired about having the credit from the course you attended transferred to your cousin, Rose, who did not attend?"

"Sir, I have known Rose all my life," Scorpius said, glancing at me. "And …" I felt my stomach churn at his gaze. It was so intense, I felt like I should be melting into the chair. "… I believe that there is nothing she can't do. She is an amazing Healer. Upon completing the course, I felt like I didn't deserve the credit, not while Rose was up here, saving lives during the shop explosion and I was sat back at my own hospital, doing nothing. It was clear that despite the course I completed, she knew more than me. We are the only Healers in the family, so it felt only fair to let her have the credit."

"Well, that is mighty generous of you," Healer Williams said, definitely sarcastic. "But forgive me when I say that it is hard to believe."

"I understand that you only have my word to go on," Scorpius agreed. "Let me explain: it was the shop explosion that really convinced me. When I heard what had happened, I knew that Rose would be called in. I wanted the credit to go to her, because she had clearly demonstrated that despite not having attended the course, she had proven herself just as worthy as those who did during that horrible disaster. Later, when I heard how many lives were saved thanks to her and the rest of your brilliant Healers here, I was only reinforced with my reasoning."

"Hmpft," Healer Williams muttered, though he looked a little chuffed with the slight arse-kissing 'brilliant' comment. I was just thankful that Scorpius was no longer staring at me and I tried to discreetly fan my face. Why was it so hot in here? "Well, thank you, Cesario, I guess, for coming in here today and discussing this matter with me. I will inform you both when I have made my decision."

He gave both of us pointed looks and we quickly took that to mean, _get the hell out of my office_. After several more 'thank you's and even a bow or two, we made to scarper off down the corridor. However, Healer Williams' voice calling out made me pause.

"Oh, and Rose?" I glanced back to see my boss's grim, but satisfied face. "I thought you might want to know about what the review against Healer O'Sullivan has decided. It has been agreed upon that he will not come back to work at this hospital."

I gave him a small smile. "Shall I tell Healer Carter, sir?"

"Of course," Healer Williams said at once. "That's why I told you."

Scorpius tugged on my arm then and I thanked my boss before following Scorpius out into the corridor. We ran and didn't stop until we reached the main ground floor through-way that led to the accidents waiting room and the wards. Leaning against the wall next to the doors, I closed my eyes and rested my head back, breathing a sigh of relief. "We made it through!"

"Yeah, I can't believe it," Scorpius admitted. "Did your boss mention the dickface back there?"

"Oh, yes!" I said, looking at him happily. "No longer working here! We fired his arse!"

"The world can now rejoice – no, I'm not being sarcastic," he added and I snorted. "So did I come off all right?"

"All right?" I stared. "Scorpius, you were utterly _brilliant_! For a second there, I actually believed I had a cousin Cesario!"

"Yeah, you _so_ don't owe me for this." he snorted.

"I'm serious, Scorpius," I said. "Thank you. So much. You have no idea what this means to me."

"Oh, hey …" He shrugged awkwardly, though his eyes never left my face. "Whatever. You're welcome."

* * *

That night we were to have dinner at Libby's. It was something we hadn't really been able to do ever since last year; y'know, the last time being the one where Al and Bea had finally gotten engaged. With our lives all being so busy and half of my mates ending up in St Mungo's for several days at one point, it was no wonder that we hadn't managed to find the time. But Libby sent an owl around and we had all quickly decided that we had to get together and catch up.

However, before I could even think that far ahead, I had to handle Queen Godzilla.

Scorpius and I had walked back from St Mungo's to our flat building together, awkwardly bumping shoulders every now and then and bickering like we always did. It felt like it should be awkward … but after living through the mother of all awkward phases, this sort of seemed like nothing in comparison. It just felt so confusing to be arguing with him again! One the one hand, I loved it because it meant that we were finally sorting something out … but then I felt almost guilty, seeing as a quote from Al back during sixth-year had been, "Bickering to you two is like flirting like hell to normal people!" It had honestly felt like that, no matter what I told myself.

As we pushed through the stairwell doors and clattered out onto our corridor, it became obvious that something crazy was going on. I could hear faint yelling from inside one of the flats. Naturally, once we got closer, it was to find that the yelling was coming from _my_ flat.

"What the hell _is_ that?" Scorpius asked, coming closer to eavesdrop with me.

"I have a hunch," I said, opening the door. Sure enough, it was to find Bea and her older sister, Annie 'Queen Godzilla' Bowmen, yelling at each other over the kitchen table.

"For the last time, I do not want live swans as the centrepieces for my wedding reception!" Bea was yelling, her face having gone bright red in anger. That told me that my best friend really was _extremely_ pissed off. Bea hardly ever goes red.

"Bea, I only want what's best for you!" Queen Godzilla was saying, throwing her gorgeous blond hair over her shoulder with a huff. With her strapless pink dress, you'd think she was about to hit a night out in the clubs, rather than spend all day arguing with her sister about wedding plans. But Annie Bowmen posed in front of a camera for a living and claimed that, "Beauty is constant. You must always be prepared to have your beauty captured forever! I'm sure you'll understand someday …" She had added that last part at me and Al had been the one to hold me back from jumping the bitch.

"Oh, that's rich!" Bea yelled back, slamming her hands down on the table, riffling several bridal magazines with the force. "You don't give a shit about what I think! Face it, you're basically planning your own bloody wedding here!"

"How dare you!" Queen Godzilla cried dramatically. "Here I am, trying to make your day special and you just throw my help back in my face!"

"Maybe if it was what _I_ wanted, I would actually listen!" Bea cried. "Hell, I had to agree to riding a bloody horse down the aisle before you'd even let my friends be _invited_! And you wonder why I'm not keeping my last name!"

"Oh, come on, _Beatrice Potter_?" Queen Godzilla rolled her eyes. "That's just too close to Beatrix Potter, everyone would make fun of you!"

"She was one of my favourite authors! Not that _you_ would poke fun, would you, Annie?"

"You little–!"

"OK!" Scorpius was the one to cut in, which was surprising, as normally he thought rows with Queen Godzilla rather amusing. She was more entertaining than Mrs Bowmen, at least. Queen Godzilla's demands might be unreasonable, but Mrs Bowmen wouldn't compromise on _anything_. "Before heads start getting ripped off, everyone calm down!" He stormed forward and forced Bea back into her seat while I followed and glanced down at the plans Queen Godzilla was currently trying to enforce. I had to admit, the swan-centrepieces looked adorable, but there would be a minor setback of getting swan poo in our food.

"Scorpius, tell her!" Bea cried, throwing a finger in her sister's direction. "Tell her that all I want is just me, Al and our mates in some little ceremony somewhere! I don't want swans, I don't want live doves to be released when we say I do, I don't want a whole bloody zoo of animals for entertainment and I want Trevor and Toby to actually be _invited_! They may be disgusting blokes, but they're _my friends_ and–"

"Bea!" I cried. "Calm! You won't be able to breathe in a minute!"

"Ah, look, Bea," Scorpius looked a little awkward as Queen Godzilla huffed. "This is sort of a woman's fight, I don't really think I have the right to say–"

"Oh, but you'd agree with _me_, wouldn't you?" Queen Godzilla cut in, flipping her hair again and smiling at Scorpius. I felt my eyes narrow. The last person who had flicked their hair I had punched in the face (twice in one lifetime now, in fact). "You've always been on my side, haven't you, Scrosius?"

"Uh, it's Scorpius," he quickly said, trying hard to not look at her. "And honestly, I've known Bea longer than you, so–"

"Oh, _boys_!" Queen Godzilla quickly gave up on the flirting, thank the lord. I was just thinking I would have to smack her. "You're useless the lot of you!"

"Yeah, and you can never hold down one," Bea muttered, bitterly. "It's no wonder you're trying to force your dream wedding onto me."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?!"

"It means you are such a bitch that no man would ever want to go _near_ you, let alone _marry_ you!" Bea yelled back. "This is probably the closest you'll ever get to your own wedding than you ever will–!"

"That's it!" Queen Godzilla snapped, storming to her feet and beginning to gather up all her magazines and plans, throwing them into her Official Folder of Fun-time Wedding Bollocks. "Fine! If you don't want my help, then I'll take it elsewhere!"

"THANK GOD!" Bea cried, throwing her arms into the air, Scorpius having to duck and narrowly missing being clocked in the head. "Get the hell out of here!"

"… I mean it! I'll leave!" Queen Godzilla said again, shifting her folder higher into her arms.

"I'm sure you do, so by all means, go!"

"Fine! I – I'm going!" But Queen Godzilla wasn't moving. In fact, she was rather looking like she was expecting Bea to change her mind when she realised that her sister was going to leave her. Clearly, she hadn't factored in the point that Bea couldn't stand her at the moment.

"Brilliant! Go on, then!" Bea said.

"I …" Queen Godzilla stormed for the front door, but faltered as she opened it. "I – I'm going …!"

"What are you waiting for?! Leave!"

Queen Godzilla just stared for a moment. When Bea didn't back down, Queen Godzilla huffed and screamed a last defiant, "FINE!" before slamming the door behind her. Finally, all was silent in our flat and Bea let out a triumphant cry.

"Thank the lord!" she said, slumping down onto the table, Scorpius hastily rubbing her back. "Rosie, can you check? Is she gone?"

"Er, no …" I called from the hallway, peering out through the peep hole. "She's still standing there with her folder. I think she thought you were bluffing …"

"Well, I wasn't," Bea glanced up, looking bleary-eyed. "But I have the feeling I haven't got completely shot of her. Mum will be having a go, soon. Scorpius, why do you have red hair?"

"What?" Scorpius glanced up and I panicked, realising that of all the charms we'd counter-acted to make Scorpius look like Cesario, we had forgotten that he still had red hair. "Oh!" He quickly poked his head with his wand and his hair thankfully went back to blond. "Uh, was just trying something …"

Bea decided not to push this, thank god, and she just shook her head, warily. "Ugh, she was here almost all night yesterday, trying to plan all sorts of rubbish. Didn't get up till ten and she was already banging on the door! Where did you two go?" Bea gave Scorpius and I a suddenly suspicious look as Scorpius sat down in the chair next to her and I quickly went to the kitchen to make us some tea to avoid her stare. "You were gone by the time I woke up …"

"Um," I wasn't sure whether to tell her. I mean, originally I hadn't wanted to worry her and with Scorpius agreeing to help me, it had seemed like I wouldn't have to. I had fearfully panicked to my brother about the meeting with my boss, since he had been with me ever since the beginning of this fiasco, but Bea was my best friend; she also deserved the truth. "Honestly … Scorpius spent the morning pretending to be my cousin, Cesario."

"What?" Bea said, glancing confusedly between the two of us.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "It sort of … got out," I shot him a glare at that. We all knew it was his fault it got out in the first place. "that Rose snuck onto that Healer course. There were rumours going around, so her boss wanted to have a meeting with her and her cousin."

"Problem was, Cesario didn't exist," I added, coming back with the tea, despite Bea's gaze boring into my head. "But Scorpius said he'd help me. He came to the meeting pretending to be my cousin. Oh, his name is officially Cesario Weasley for the next few days, by the way."

"Why did you do that?" Bea asked Scorpius. Trust me girl, I've been asking myself the same thing ever since he agreed to it.

Scorpius shrugged. "Same reason I told Rose, though she doesn't believe me," he said and I scowled as I sat down. "I reckon she's a great Healer and she deserves to make it. I wasn't going to let her screw it up."

"Oi!"

"Merlin's pants, Rosie," Bea sighed, pouring herself a cup of tea. "Where on earth do you get these insane ideas?"

"Hey, this one was all Scorpius!" I reminded her.

"And I suppose that, yet again, I can't tell Al?" Bea asked, grinning over her tea cup.

"So long as he promises not to breathe a word," I gave in, knowing that Bea would probably just tell him anyway. They tell each other everything, it was rather frightening. "I made a mistake telling Scorpius, though. It was his fault I had to have this meeting in the first place!"

"Look, so I told my best friend!" Scorpius said, exasperatedly. "How was I supposed to know that she'd still have a huge grudge against you?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because of the fact that she HATES me?!" I yelled back, slamming my hands on the table and leaning in to glare.

"Come off it," Scorpius countered, mirroring my stance. "she doesn't _hate_ you–"

"Blackmail, Scorpius!" I cut in, as if this one word was all I needed to make my point. "BLACKMAIL!"

There was a moment of silence in which we continued to glare at each other, our faces inches apart. Then, Bea said, "… wowwwww." and we both seemed to realise how close we'd gotten. Sitting back hastily I turned to look at her. Bea had been practically staring between the two of us, back and forth like a Quidditch match. "I haven't seen you two bicker this bad since Hogwarts."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, arguably a lot nicer than Queen Godzilla had screamed it.

"Just saying," Bea smothered a smile into her cup of tea. "Don't do it in front of Sophie."

* * *

We had eventually made it to Libby's, Al, Bea and I all arriving together. The entire motley crew was there; Toby and his new Norwegian girlfriend who was about eighteen; Jo, who had brought her new puppy; Trevor, who had brought Harley, to my utter fury; Libby's current flatmate, Candy, who was apparently a stripper and was busy snogging her pimp boyfriend; James, who I don't think had been to his own flat ever since he and Libby got together; and Scorpius, who had arrived ahead of us, since he had of course brought Sophie with him. I was literally the only person who didn't have someone that they had dragged along with them. Even Jo that had adorable, cute Labrador puppy, all brown and wiggly. She was currently on the floor, playing with 'Pants', as she called him, surrounded by the woman in the room, all giggling and 'aw'ing.

James was watching Libby tickle Pants the puppy under the chin with that 'I'm so totally in love with this chick' look that I'd started getting used to seeing on him. Bea was squealing and dragging Al over to pat the puppy. Even Candy looked like she was about to do some pro-creating right there up against the wall!

I don't think I'd ever felt so alone.

"Rosie!" Jo had noticed me arrive, holding her puppy in her arms and squirming as it licked her face. "Come say hi to Pants!"

"You named your puppy 'Pants'?" I asked, resigning myself to the fact that I would be playing with the puppy all night and dropping down next to her.

"His full name is Cutiepants McFluffytin." Jo said, her face absolutely serious.

"Ah," I said as I moved to pet him. What? He _was_ cute. "So why did you get a puppy?"

"Because," Jo shrugged. "It's just like having a boyfriend. He rolls around on the sofa, touches himself, begs for food and loves sleeping with me. The only difference is that this little guy won't ever leave me!" Jo snuggled her face into Pants' fur.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said. "So you and, was it Ryan …?"

"Oh, yeah, he's history," Jo waved a hand dismissively, like it wasn't important. "But that doesn't matter, because Pants is now the only man in my life!"

At this rate, I would end up just like Jo and little Pants. Everyone had basically coupled off here and had somebody to love. Al and Bea were in full wedding mode now that Queen Godzilla was gone for the time being, discussing what had to be ditched immediately and what could possibly wait to argue about until later. Libby was complaining that they should keep the horse as Trevor and Toby mucked around, throwing sweets through the air and catching them in their mouths. It seems to be a thing we've got going, sweets-toss. Harley was currently judging who was winning as Scorpius and Sophie sat curled together in the armchair in the corner just before the kitchen.

I mean, honestly. Do they have no pride? She was practically draped over his lap, kissing and giggling in that cute way of hers. _Damn it_, Rose. It was so hard to hate Sophie.

I couldn't help it. Sophie was adorable. I was starting to see her on a regular basis, mainly because she would sometimes drop by to say hello before continuing down the hall to see Scorpius. Every time I spoke to her, I liked her more and more and it seemed that she really had become a part of our wonderful, if slightly dysfunctional, group of mates. I tried to stop it, honestly I did! I really did my best to hate her guts, but there's just something about that girl that makes you love her. She's cute, blond and probably the nicest person in the world. You just can't beat that.

She's a hell of a sight better than sarcastic, moody, painfully dramatic and far too smart Rose Weasley.

Ok, so I liked her. But watching her with Scorpius still hurt and it annoyed me that it did. I was happy now, I was in a good place! But still, my insides wrenched at the sight. I didn't even want to think about what that meant. Ever since he'd apologised last week, I admit, Scorpius and I had grown a little bit closer, slowly going back to what we used to be like. Bickering, irritating, but slightly more tolerable of each other. I had thought that perhaps, we could make sense of our bizarre relationship and legitimately sort something out. Neither of them seemed to care that they were in perfect view of a room full of people. He bent his head to whisper in her ear and Sophie just raised an eyebrow with an '_oh, really?_' look. Good god, this really is pathetic. I didn't blame Sophie for this, though; no, that I was saving for Scorpius. He knew exactly what he was doing.

I didn't want to admit it was working, but I've come to recognise jealousy now when it hits me.

"Er, Rosie …" Jo said, hesitantly. "You're squeezing Pants a bit tight there …"

"Oh, my god!" I quickly let the poor puppy go and he nipped at my hand in retaliation. Great, now even the dog didn't like me. "Pants, I'm so sorry!"

"Why d'you look like you want to break something?" Jo asked me, suspiciously.

"I don't!" I avoided her eye, but I could still see Scorpius and Sophie behind her. "I …"

Jo glanced over her shoulder – ever the obvious one – and let out a snort of laughter. "No _way_!" she cried. "You're still into him?!"

"Jo! Shut the hell up!" I hissed, smacking a hand over her mouth. Several others glanced over, but Scorpius and Sophie didn't even notice, thank god. Pants had run off, tugging on the hem of James' jeans and my cousin was now swearing and running around, trying to fend the puppy off with little success.

"What?" Jo mumbled around my hand. We were still sat in the middle of the floor, surrounded by dog toys. I hoped Scorpius got up and tripped on one. I moved my hand away warily and she continued, "I had no idea! I thought you'd gotten over all that!"

"I _have_," I told her. "Well, I'm about as over it as I'm going to get. But you've got it wrong, I'm _happy_, I don't need a bloke in my life to be happy and I certainly don't want Scorpius again like that."

But despite my reassurances, Jo was shaking her head sadly, almost like I'd somehow let her down. "Oh, Rosie … don't you ever learn?"

"That, what? Scorpius can't flirt to save his life?" I asked, confused.

"No!" Jo insisted. "That all men are bastards!"

"… you're not serious?" I said, blankly.

"Rosie, I'm deadly serious," Jo told me. "All they do is screw you over and leave you to adopt a dog, because you're never going to get another one. All men are bastards and we should never associate with them again, let alone fall in love with one again!"

"But I'm not in … oh, whatever," I figured that arguing with Jo was going to be pointless. I decided to poke holes into Jo's logic. "Are you saying that I shouldn't even talk to Al?"

"Oh, no, he's your cousin, he doesn't count." she said.

"_You_ talk to him …"

"Well–"

"And Trevor," I pointed out. "And Scorpius and Toby, even though he's your idiot brother, and James, those the blokes from your work, and you even spoke to Candy's pimp boyfriend over there–"

"Look, fine!" Jo cut over me, shaking her shoulder-length blond hair all over the place and I laughed. "Merlin's beard, Rosie … I get your point. Not _all_ men are bastards. Just … most of them."

And with that insightful outlook on life, Libby announced that dinner had to be ready now. Pretty soon, the boys were crowding around, trying to have at the meat while Libby snapped back with a carving knife. While sometimes Libby's short attention span could get her into some trouble when it came to serving food (such as forgetting about it and leaving it to burn. Seriously, the amount of times we'd had to call the Fire Service was ridiculous), she was actually a magnificent cook. We managed to have a decent meal all together, without Al and Bea getting into an argument over Al refusing to propose and/or Scorpius and I getting into a screaming match. I had somehow been forced into the chair next to Sophie, which was just bloody fantastic, since Scorpius had sat on her other side and basically flirted all night.

It was almost painful to watch. Scorpius was so ridiculously bad at flirting, it had been a running joke basically the entire time I'd known him. Once, before we'd even gotten together when we were about fourteen, he had challenged me and claimed that he could totally flirt … his resulting 'seductive' voice had sent me into peals of laughter and as a result, he had been the one paying me. But for some reason, Sophie was _buying_ it. Maybe she really did like being called 'sexy cotton candy' but most likely she was just too nice to tell him to shut up and eat. I'd have to give that girl some lessons in defying Scorpius Malfoy.

Dinner thankfully passed without incident, unless you counted Pants running underneath the table, alternating between chewing James' jeans and eating food given to him by everyone else. "Seriously, just fatten up my dog!" Jo had cried, when Candy had just thrown all her scraps to Pants, rather than take her plate into the kitchen (the five metre walk obviously too much for her stripper legs). Pants had leapt onto the food and Jo had nearly had her hand taken off when she tried to pull him away.

Everyone moved into the lounge once more to laze around while their stomachs digested. Needing to get away from the Scorpius-and-Sophie-Show, I offered to stay back and wash the dishes. "Oh, no, Rosie that's my job!" Libby had tried to say, but I had shooed her off, insisting that I wanted to do it. Pretty soon, I was alone in the kitchen, the only sounds being the ticking of the clock on the wall, the voices of my friends from the lounge and the scrubbing of the brush against the plates. I could have done this with magic, but I wanted a dull task to take my mind off everything.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to washing dishes and it left plenty of room for my mind to continue wandering.

It wasn't as if I even wanted him _back_. I just wanted… well, _him_. We had just been working things out, we'd been getting things right and then jealousy just _had_ to rear its ugly head. Ok, to be fair, I'd sort of done the same thing to him, but that had been to get even. This was uncalled for and I swear, he knew exactly what he was doing.

"Oh, for god's sake, Rosie!" I hissed at myself, scrubbing hard at a particularly stubborn stain. "You're _not_ jealous! Just stop thinking about it, get it out of your head–"

"Talking to yourself, Rose?"

I shrieked and dropped the plate into the bubbly sink with a huge _splash_. Water went absolutely everywhere and I whirled to see Scorpius leaning against the closed kitchen door, looking amused. Great, I was sopping wet and all he could do was _smirk_ at me.

"Shut up." I muttered as I yanked out my wand angrily and directed a drying charm onto my clothes.

"Just saying," Scorpius shrugged. "They say it's the first sign of madness."

"The second sign must be speaking to you, then," I retorted, keeping my eyes firmly on my steaming clothes. "What d'you want?"

"Some Mrs Skower's," Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Pants decided to use Candy's shoes as a bathroom. She was obviously not thrilled."

"Wonder when she'll be kicked out?" I said, walking to Libby's cupboard and starting to search. Scorpius joined me.

"Soon, I'm guessing," Scorpius said, staring intently into the cupboards for the stain remover. "Besides, we all know that James will officially move in at some point."

It was hard to imagine that. Fred had been utterly distraught at losing his wingman in his quest to what seemed to be sleeping with every single woman in London; however, James hadn't really cared either way. "I can't _believe_ that," I said, looking behind a large jar of pickles that looked like they'd never been open. "Who would have thought, my baby cousin James, moving in with his girlfriend!"

"Isn't he older than you?" Scorpius asked, confused.

"He is," I admitted. "But honestly, he's so much of a little kid sometimes, I've practically taken care of him his whole life. Oh, here it is!" I pulled it out from between several bug-killers. "Make sure you bring it back, though. I'm going to need to pour it all through my head after tonight."

"What?" Scorpius tried to sound confused, but the bastard was already smirking as I handed him the magical cleaner. "You don't half say some weird shit, Rose …"

"Oh, you know perfectly well what I mean!" I snapped, striding back over to the dishes. "You, trying to have your way with Sophie right there in front of everyone!"

"Come on," Scorpius wasn't even bothering to hide his grin now, tucking the bottle of stain remover under his arms as he folded them. "I'm not trying to–"

"The hell? Of course you were!" I turned to counter him. He looked like he was trying not to laugh at me. "It was truly disgusting! I don't know how the hell you ever managed to get that girl to like you; you suck at flirting."

"I do not!" Scorpius didn't look so chuffed with himself now.

"Are you kidding?" I scoffed. "Scorpius, whispering, _'Hey baby, wanna neck?'_ has got to be the least sexy thing you could ever say. Face it, you just can't flirt!"

Scorpius's face was a strange mix between furious and crest-fallen. It wasn't surprising, since I hadn't mentioned this inability of his since we'd started going out; somehow, I had felt the need to keep his poor boy ego intact and just didn't say anything. "So …" He dropped the stain remover onto the bench next to me and held out his arms. "You mean I'm not the least bit attractive at all right now?"

"No." I snorted.

"Not even if I said I wanna cuddle?"

"_No_." I said again, though I tried to keep that image out of my mind. The sight of Scorpius standing there with his arms out like he wanted a hug was just a bit too much.

I glanced up slightly and saw his expression; it was cocky like he always was, but I realised there was a hint of doubt in there. He was actually _worrying_ about this.

Oh, Rosie, this is a bad idea. I couldn't help it. He'd been screwing with me all night and messing with Scorpius's head was just too fun to resist. I think a _little _teasing can be justified.

Scorpius, you're about to be hit with a whirlwind of Rosie!

"But y'know, Scorpius," I grinned, moving towards him. His arms outstretched stiffened and froze the second he realised I was moving. "I never used to mind the fact that you can't flirt."

"… that doesn't really make me feel better," Scorpius said, hesitantly letting his arms drop. I circled him and his head nervously tried to follow me.

"It's not supposed to."

"Merlin, I really hate you."

"And there's my point," I leaned out from behind him to grin. "You didn't need to know how to flirt back then, because we had our own way of flirting."

"What, fighting?" Scorpius sounded confused and just a little bit scared now as I continued circling him like a vulture. I never glanced away from his face and he seemed incapable of breaking it. "Rose, I'm pretty sure that fighting is a socially unacceptable version of flirting for anyone other than – u-us …" He stammered slightly, since I moved even closer. He had his arms wrapped tightly around himself, which was fine because it wasn't my intention to touch him.

"You're forgetting that we have another version of ours," I said, smirking. "The one where we _don't_ speak."

Scorpius visibly shuddered and I felt my heart beat erratically at the sight. "God – um – Rose –" Scorpius seemed incapable of finishing a sentence.

"That version," I began, stopping at his side. "I think is universal."

"Rose–" Scorpius said, weakly.

I leaned in close to his ear. "_So, hey baby_," I whispered to him. "… _wanna neck_?"

Scorpius just turned to stare at me and from the look in his eye, I'm pretty sure that if he got his way, he would have taken me right there in Libby's kitchen, never mind the twelve other people plus a dog out in the lounge. However, just as he moved – to do what, I was still a bit frightened of – I danced out of reach with a smug grin.

He was looking rather red around the edges, which I knew meant that I'd really gotten to him; Scorpius hardly ever goes red. "What d'you think?" I asked him. "It's not so hard to flirt now, is it?"

"You …" Scorpius closed his eyes, rubbing his fingers against them as he apparently tried to get himself under control. Then, he muttered roughly, "… you're a _dangerous_ being."

Conclusion to saving my career and Scorpius and flirting being used in the same sentence: 

-I left Libby's soon after that display in the kitchen, happy to just bask in my success and to not have to handle Bea's questions, though not before Jo promised to send me a hand-made t-shirt that read, 'All men are bastards!'

-I'm going to admit, my heart went a bit out of control there, but I'm pretty sure it was all a part of the act.

-Leaving the kitchen, I glanced around, trying to find Sophie. I wasn't sure how she would feel if she'd seen what had happened – it had just been a joke, a bit of fun – but if she _had_ noticed, I wanted to reassure her that nothing at all had happened or ever would. But I caught sight of her stare, about ten seconds after I closed the door behind me, and I found myself backing away.

It was confusion. And hurt. And I'd seen that look before on my own face. I was a _horrible_ person.

Rose: 23, Scorpius: 19.

(Well, I'm still winning at any rate).

* * *

A/N: Update, 12/5/13: Yes, I have changed the ending slightly. There's still flirting, but it is not Scorpius at fault this time. One review really hit me and made me see that if it had been Scorpius's fault, it would screw up all the positive progress him and Rose have made and essentially, the rest of the story. Rose has leeway; Scorpius hurt her, she's still entitled to a bit of teasing. So I felt this change was necessary to keep the story on the track I want it on, which is Rose and Scorpius heading back to good terms.

This chapter was written to give you guys a little bit of Rose/Scorpius action and I hope it still delivers. I hardly _ever _do this, change my story after it's been posted, but I felt like this was needed and this is why I feel feedback is so important to listen to. Thank you for reading and I hope everyone agrees that the change was the right thing to do.

You're all seriously amazing and I always love to hear what you all think. Please keep that feedback coming. :)

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	27. The Violent One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, Quidditch, riots or heart-breaking conversations.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 26: The Violent One.

"I WON!" Al cried, bursting through my front door with a crash. "I DON'T BELIEVE IT, I WON!"

"What?!" I cried, throwing my text book aside. I didn't even know what was going on, but chances are, it was going to be more exciting than cauldron burns.

"The tickets, Rosie!" Al yelled, running towards me and waving the apparent tickets in front of my face. "I can't believe it! I only entered the competition on the off-chance, never thought I'd win in a million years!"

"For god's sake, what did you win?" I asked, trying to calm my cousin down, tugging on his ticket-baring sleeve and getting him to sit. Al took a deep, excited breath before saying,

"The European Cup Final! I won two tickets to see it!"

"No way!" I snatched the tickets off Al to stare at them. The Quidditch European Cup had been gearing up to this final match between Puddlemere United and Quiberon Quafflepunchers, who were a flamboyant French team, for months up until now, late June. It had become a source of great loving tension in my family, since Auntie Fleur apparently adored the Quiberon Quafflepunchers, whereas her husband, Uncle Bill, frequently tried to get her to support more English teams. All of the Delacour-Weasley's were going to the match this weekend, something that they had been boasting about for quite some time. Auntie Fleur admitted herself that she didn't even really like Quidditch! She only supported the team because, and I quote, "Zee outfits are to die for!"

I, myself, happen to be a Chudley Canons fan. Believe me, I wish I wasn't, but I most unfortunately had no choice in the matter, thanks to my dad being the biggest fan there ever was for the hopeless team. Seriously, Hugo and I were forced into Canons pyjamas before we could even walk. We never stood a chance. Every Canons game the three of us would crowd around a wireless and yell and groan whenever the other team scored. Afterwards, we would complain about how we totally would have played better if we'd been on the team, while Mum just provided us with comforting snacks.

However, as it turned out, Al and Scorpius both supported Puddlemere United. They had only discovered this after they had actually become friends in sixth-year. Ever since they found out, it had been nothing but yelling at the wireless and raucous parties if they won. Bea didn't really have a Quidditch team; basically, she would support whoever happened to be talking to her at the time. Sure, she liked watching Quidditch, but at the moment she was more busy hiding from her mother, sister and month-before-the-wedding-plans than anything else.

Since Hugo and I had long resigned ourselves to the fact that the Chudley Canons were once again going to come out bottom of the table, we had turned our support to what I suppose was our _second_ favourite team, along with Al. "I can't believe you won!" I said. "You're taking me, right?"

"Hey!" Al took the tickets back. "I'm taking my man, Scorpius! You want to come, you'll have to go bribe James at work! I'm sure he could wrangle some tickets for you; his office is only just down the hall from the ticket-distribution office."

"Actually, he does still owe me for helping him get off with Libby …" I said, thoughtfully.

"There you go!" Al said, happily. "Trust me, this game is going to be the best! We're travelling out to France on Friday, watching the game Saturday and hoping that it finishes in time for us to get back to work on Monday. Can't afford to take any more time off, work is horrendous at the moment."

"Oh, god, so is mine," I sighed, slumping back onto the sofa. "I'll never manage time off. Healer O'Satan's in charge of scheduling and she hates me."

"Yeah, well, I'm just glad you aren't sleeping with another boss." Al muttered.

"Oi!" I said, slapping him on the arm, but I saw a slight teasing smile on his face. Only Al seemed to be able to joke about that disastrous relationship. "The bastard got fired, you know that!"

"I know, and he deserved it," Al told me. "Either way, you still deserve some time off, Rosie."

"I know that, but it's getting near the end of the training year," I pointed out. "Exams aren't that long after your wedding and if I want a job at the end of training, I'll have to work as much as I can!"

Al had looked concerned then, probably at the imagined thought of me literally working myself into a coma, but he complained for me regardless. However, as it turned out, he didn't actually have to. Much to my surprise, Healer O'Satan was on leave herself, so when I went to her office to try and beg for time off, it was to find the much nicer Healer Brenner, who managed staffing for the full-Healers.

"Oh, hello, Healer Brenner," I said as politely as I could, knocking on the door to see his curly brown head look up. "Sorry, is Healer O – I mean, Healer Dinah around?"

"She's on leave," Healer Brenner smiled. "Was there anything I could help you with?"

"Well, I just needed to schedule time off for this weekend …"

"You and the rest of the hospital!" Healer Brenner said, though he was laughing, so I took that to mean that he wasn't about to chew me out for it. "Are you yet another who is jetting off to France for the European Cup final?"

"Er …"

"Oh, it's fine," Healer Brenner sighed, throwing me a time-off sheet to fill out. I caught it in bewilderment. "That's where Healer Dinah's gone as well. I daresay if there is a medical emergency, the teams will have more than enough Healers to attend to them. I swear about half our staff is going!"

* * *

Despite the potential embarrassment of running into Healer O'Satan at the Quidditch match, wearing a 'Go Puddlemere!' t-shirt, I still pulled out all the stops trying to wrangle tickets. James worked in the Department for Magical Games and Sports and, like Al said, he owed me about half a million favours. In the end, my beloved cousin pulled through and he managed to get us five tickets; one each for me, Bea, James, Libby and Sophie.

I don't know why I had insisted on an extra ticket for Scorpius's girlfriend. I didn't even know if she _liked_ Quidditch. All I knew was that ever since that dinner at Libby's and the look I'd seen on her face when Scorpius and I left that kitchen, I knew that it wasn't fair on her. Whatever screwed up feelings Scorpius and I happened to have for each other, it shouldn't affect Sophie, and while I knew it wouldn't be much, I hoped that the ticket would help her see a little that I at least didn't want to intentionally hurt her. She had smiled and thanked me excitedly when I told her, so I was hoping that it was a move in the right direction.

Whatever might happen, Sophie was there along with us as we caught the Portkey to Paris and then, up to Quiberon in north-western France. We caught the same Portkey as Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur, along with Victoire, Dom and Louis. As we approached the hidden stadium in the middle of a large forest, we had to force our way through thousands of excited Quidditch fans, all holding onto each other and talking loudly. Teddy had come with Victoire and currently had nearly four-year-old Max riding on his shoulders, so my little cousin once removed looked like he was floating on top of the crowd. Max squealed with laughter, his hair currently a bright pink to match the French team's colours. Yeah, that's my family, a bunch of traitors supporting the French.

James was our leader, practically dragging us through the crowd, Libby yelling at him to calm down, but it was no use; James was like an overgrown puppy when it came to Quidditch. He used to play at Hogwarts and had always dreamed of wanting to play professionally. I had always asked why he never did.

"They offered me a _job_, baby cousin," he had told me, during that last week of his last year at Hogwarts. "Department of Games and Sports, it's the closest I ever expected to get straight out of Hogwarts! I would've had to have been a complete _idiot_ not to take it!" And that, while was sensible and pretty much the _only_ sensible thing James had ever done in his _life_, I knew wasn't the dream job my cousin wanted. I always hoped that one day, James would actually try out for a team.

I held onto Al and Bea's hands, the latter hanging onto Libby in front of me so we could get through the crowd. Al was chattering away behind me, wearing a giant blue hat with the Puddlemere logo on it. I would normally have been embarrassed by that, but I was wearing the matching one, so I couldn't really talk. Bea tripped on the stairs leading up into the stadium and as a result, we nearly all pitched over. Several French supporters laughed at us, but even more Puddlemere supporters picked us up and jeered back.

Puddlemere United fans had been rather known for causing trouble at matches. About thirty years ago, they had played the Holyhead Harpies and apparently, wands had even been confiscated before the match. However, heaps of fake wands were handed over and one of Puddlemere's Chaser's disappearing halfway through the game caused a huge blow out between the two sides. Ever since, there had always been some sort of scuffle at a Puddlemere game, which I'm sure James was probably looking forward to. Security hadn't bothered confiscate wands since that match thirty years ago, probably because they knew it did nothing to control the crowd, but there were guards stationed _everywhere_. We tried not to be accidentally pushed into them, some of whom were stood at the entrance to practically every row of the stadium. And trust me this stadium has a _lot_ of rows.

Scorpius and Sophie were behind as, as far as I was aware. For all I knew, they had gotten lost in the crowd and disappeared. But we finally found the row that our tickets were for, about halfway up the stairs, and I managed a glance back as the crowd started to thin, security guards making sure to keep people moving. Scorpius and Sophie were holding hands, breathing hard from hiking up all the stairs and Sophie was grinning excitedly. As it turned out, Sophie was a _huge_ fan of Quidditch, her father having once played reserve for the Tutshill Tornadoes. While the Tornadoes were usually her team, she had decided to support Puddlemere for us.

Every time I looked at Sophie, I still felt so many conflicting feelings that I honestly couldn't say what I thought of her. In one look back at her smiling with Scorpius, I felt blinding rage since she would never be good enough for Scorpius; irritation when I forced myself to admit that really, _she_ was far too good for _him_ sometimes; happiness at seeing a person I actually thought was cool; frustration since I didn't want to like her; and just pure jealousy at wanting Scorpius's attention all to myself. We were friends now, but seriously, if Sophie hadn't been going out with Scorpius, I'm pretty damn sure that we would have been as close as Libby or Bea.

"C'mon, we're down this way!" I called out to them quickly, since Al was shoving me in the back, making me hurry up. I followed Bea down the row with Sophie and Scorpius close behind Al. Pretty soon we were at our seats, the entire stadium at our fingertips.

The place was absolutely packed with thousands upon thousands of people. Despite us being in the middle of France, I still recognised heaps of faces. I'd seen several of the Healers from work and I'd waved at Sarah and Margo; I'd hidden from Healer O'Satan, who had looked so ridiculous with a blue-painted face that I so wished I could take a photo and use it as blackmail; and I even saw some of my parents' friends, like Seamus Finnegan, who used to go to school with Uncle Harry, Mum and Dad. Now, he was James' boss, the head of the Magical Games and Sports department and he'd given us a cheerful wave as he ran around, trying to sort out a million different things at once before the match started.

Uncle Bill, Auntie Fleur and the rest of the family was in the row in front of us. Max was practically climbing all over Uncle Bill, wanting to see everything as Louis struck up a random excited conversation with the French girl next to him. I leaned down and threw my arms around Dom's neck in front of me.

"I know I'm irresistible and everything, but I have to say, I'm not about to shag a Quiberon supporter." I told her with a grin.

Dom laughed, hugging my arms. "Aw, you _wish_ you were in the same league as me," she teased. I let go so she could glance up at me. "How was that meeting at work? Did you manage to convince your boss that Cesario exists?"

"I did, believe it or not! I mean, I still have to have a follow up meeting to get the official verdict, but Healer Williams sent a letter telling me that I was cleared." We had to practically yell to be heard over all the noise, but neither of us cared. I hadn't really wanted to spread the news of my disciplinary meeting at work, but I had figured that those who had been involved really did deserve to know; after all, Hugo had helped me do it and Dom had kept my secret.

"I can't believe you managed to convince someone that a complete lie was the truth!" Dom cried.

"When you put it like that, I feel extremely bad," I pointed out. "I try not to think about that too much."

"Fair enough! Who'd you get to be Cesario?" Dom asked.

"Actually, Scorpius offered," I said. At the look on her face, I added, "I know! I was shocked, too!"

"He just _did_ that?" she asked, looking disbelieving. "Even though he has princess over there?"

I glanced over to Al's other side where he, Sophie and Scorpius were having a huge debate over which Chaser would score the most goals. "Yeah," I said, shrugging. "It's so annoying, Dom, if any of us were normal, I'd hate her! It would be_ so much easier_, but I just _can't_. I love her! She's just so … _nice_. She's so kind and she doesn't seem to even care than I'm a raging psychopath half the time!"

"Ah, it's the nice ones you have to watch," Dom told me, ever the optimist. "You never know when they're about to snap!"

And on that note, the two teams burst into the stadium to raucous screams.

The commentator was a Frenchman who spoke English in a heavy accent. Every now and then he would revert into French if something particularly exciting happened. The game started so violently that there were five penalties called in the first five minutes of the game. James roared at one of the French Beater's, Beaulieu, who whacked Puddlemere Chaser, Collins, straight in the head with his bat to make her drop the Quaffle. In retaliation, other Puddlemere Chaser, Jenkins, tried to kick Beaulieu off his broom, causing the referee to blast on his whistle several times.

It had been so long since I'd seen a Quidditch match that I'd forgotten how much I loved it. The atmosphere, the flying, the amazing skill the players portrayed, it was all so brilliant. Bea and I shared a pair of binoculars that Bea had borrowed off her dad, our eyes staring all around the pitch, trying to keep up with the action. At one point, the French Seeker, Dupont, was crashed into by several Chasers when he was unable to get out of the way in time. He was sent spinning out of control through the air so badly, that one of his shoes went flying off and into the crowd. Several French girls screamed as they fought over his shoe. Dom had muttered, "Pathetic!" under her breath, though I knew for a fact that she would be trying to flirt her way into the after party once the match was over.

"Eet eez a 'undred and forty – 'undred and twenty to Quiberon Quafflepunchers!" the commentator yelled, fifteen minutes into the game. "And Collins ees currently een possession! Passes to McKanon, 'oo swings around a Bludger, rather good technique zere, and passes to Jenkins, who – OH MON DIEU!" the commentator cried in amazement. "I don't believe eet! Jenkins 'as been intercepted by deliberate flying by Fournier! Eef zat eesn't a penalty – oh, yes, zere we go, penalty taken by Collins as Jenkins is attended to by zee mediwizards!"

"C'MON, COLLINS!" James roared, along with the rest of the crowd. All of us had screamed when French Chaser, Fournier, flew straight into Jenkins. Poor Jenkins had gone careening through the air and only just managed to stay on her broom; that is, until she smashed into the score-board. The only reason she hadn't hit the ground was because the mediwizards had slowed her fall. It appeared that the collision had knocked her out and the score-board was supposed to read, 'PUDDLEMERE UNITED: 130, QUIBERON QUAFFLEPUNCHERS: 140', only now it flashed something like,

' UUDLE UNI : 1 0, I RON PUNCH : 0' I figured that my dad would have gotten a good laugh out of that, but James clearly didn't think it was funny.

"YES!" the commentator yelled and the crowd screamed as Collins managed to put through the penalty. "Collins 'as done eet! And eet is Depaul in possession for Quiberon, who passes to Fournier, who dodges a Bludger using a very effective slothgrip roll–"

The game continued, but the Quiberon Quafflepunchers were starting to pull even further ahead; Jenkins was still out of action and with only two Chasers, Puddlemere was struggling to keep up with the unfortunately excellent French team. Auntie Fleur was more or less dancing in her seat, causing several near-by blokes to stare, mouth-opened, and Uncle Bill to practically growl at them. She might have been in her early fifties now, but my auntie was still quarter-Veela. Victoire was cheering and when Max couldn't get Dom's attention to lift him up, he pretty much jumped into my arms.

"Rosie, Rosie!" he cried. "Life me up high! I wanna see!"

He might be supporting the French, but I couldn't ever say no to Max. As I lifted him onto my shoulders, I really had to question Teddy and Victoire's parenting; was it honestly the best thing to expose a young child to violence such as this? But I soon shrugged it off. Quidditch was at the heart of the wizarding community. Almost every wizard was brought up with the harsh realities of the game and Hugo and I had been taken to matches as soon as we could handle the noise. Dad always told the story of apparently, in our first ever match, one of Chudley Canon's Beaters had got into an argument with a Beater from the Wimbourne Wasps and they ended up in a huge fist fight mid-game, whacking each other with their Beaters clubs and everything. Apparently, Hugo and I had just screamed with laughter, while Mum (who had opted to stay behind, never having been one for Quidditch) was told none of it until Uncle Harry accidentally mentioned it at Dad's birthday.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" James was screaming as the Puddlemere Seeker, Johnston, completely missed the roar from the crowd when Dupont went careening down the pitch for the Snitch. Bewildered, Johnston had finally spun around and tore after Dupont, only to find that a Puddlemere Beater, Handley, had beaten Dupont off course and the Snitch had of course disappeared. "ARE YOU BLOODY BLIND _AND _DEAF?! COME ON, MATE!"

The match continued in this agonising circle for the next hour. Dupont would catch sight of the Snitch, Johnston would realise and go tearing after him, only for Dupont to be knocked off course by the other Puddlemere team members. The crowd was getting so agitated that the security guards were patrolling the stands now, marching between fans and being forced to stop and break up arguments.

"How can this poncy French team be beating us?!" Al yelled in indignation as the Chaser's all went zooming right past us, all six of them practically fighting over the Quaffle. All of us cried out and cringed back as the resulting wind blasted us in the face. "C'mon, we've even got better style than them!"

"They're wearing _pink_, Al!" Sophie cried back, standing back up right and staring through her omnioculars. "It's not a _complete_ fashion catastrophe!"

"Aw, c'mon, their designer had to be at least gay–"

"Are you calling us gay?!" A Quiberon supporter behind Al cried, causing several of his mates to glare. They were all big, huge, wearing extremely pink robes and looked like they could knock Al out with one finger. "Because eef you are, I swear I'll–"

"No, no!" Al said hastily, Bea now trying to figure out how Al had somehow gotten himself into trouble. "Of course I'm not! I mean, not that there's anything wrong with being gay, that's if you were, which you're clearly not, but–!"

"Al!" Sophie yelled and my cousin quickly fell silent. While the big French guy pounded his fists together, Sophie suddenly stood up on her chair to face him and yelled, "Hey! You wanna fight with someone, that's your business! But don't you DARE try it with my mate, because you're gonna have ME to answer to! Do you understand?!"

The French guy just laughed. However, that was when, to mine, Al, Bea and Scorpius's shock, Sophie pulled out her wand and shoved it in the guy's face. "I _said_!" she yelled. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

The French guy gulped, going cross eyed as he tried to keep a look on the wand. "Er … yes." he muttered.

"That's what I thought!" Sophie gave one last threatening poke, before jumping down and turning back to the match, which was currently 260-210 to Quiberon Quafflepunchers. She didn't even seem to notice us all staring at her. "What?" she said when she glanced at us.

"Sophie, you're _amazing_," Al said faintly, throwing an arm around her and kissing her enthusiastically on the cheek. Sophie just laughed as Bea smiled, leaning her head on my shoulder as we watched. I noticed Scorpius was watching Sophie with an awed expression, like he couldn't believe his girlfriend was so cool. Like he was realising that she deserved much more than him. I couldn't believe what she'd just done, standing up for Al like that; Scorpius I would have expected, but it was proof that she didn't just care about him anymore. She cared about the rest of us as well.

I kind of loved her for what she did.

God, I _hate_ that.

"Go Puddle's!" Max was cheerfully yelling from my shoulders. "Rosie! Puddle's, yeah?"

Ok, he had the wrong team entirely, but I still told him, "Yeah, Maxie! GO PUDDLE'S!"

"YAY!"

Another ten minutes in and practically half the players were out for the count. Jenkins had only just managed to re-join the game from being thrown into the score board and just as she flew up to intercept the Quaffle, she got an elbow in the head and went spinning through the air into one of the French Beater's. The commentator was yelling, "Fournier – Depaul – Manning – Depaul – OH!" He cried out with the crowd as Puddlemere Beater Handley, actually threw his Beater's club through the air and knocked the Quaffle out of Depaul's hands. "Zat _must_ be another penalty!"

The penalty was taking with great pleasure by Depaul, whose look of concentration was nothing compared to the Puddlemere Keeper's. Amazingly, it was saved, causing several new resounding roars and the commentator to update, "So eet eez 260-250 to Quiberon Quafflepunchers, zough Puddlemere eez very closely catching up! Wiz zee Snitch looking like eet eez lost, zose Chaser's had better keep eet up! And Manning eez een possession, but McKanon flies een from nowhere! McKanon takes possession, passing to Collins and – _regardez ça_!" The commentator yelled as the entire stadium screamed. Several Chaser's were forced to scatter as Johnston, the Puddlemere Seeker, went flying straight through. "Waz zat Johnston?! I zink eet waz! Ladies and gentlemen, I believe zere 'as been a Snitch sighting! Johnston eez seemply flying, zough Dupont eez not far be'ind!"

"C'MON, JOHNSTON!" James was yelling, his arm slung around Libby, possibly to keep himself upright should he pass out from the excitement. Libby was also screaming, waving a Puddlemere flag.

"Rosie, he's going to do it!" Bea cried, staring hard through the binoculars.

"Like hell, he's missed the Snitch twenty times already!"

"Ten Galleons?!"

"You're on!"

"Where's Max?!" Teddy was yelling, staring around in amazement. "He has to see this! Max–?"

"Teddy!" I yelled, handing him his son. "Keep a leash on him, will you? You're the worst parent I've ever seen!"

"Cheers, Rosie!" he yelled back, not even listening and excitedly pointing out Johnston's spiralling dive through the pitch, Dupont right on his tail. There was a slight glitter a few feet down. Al was yelling something in my ear and the noise of the crowd was absolutely deafening. I was practically jumping up and down, my hands on Dom's shoulders.

About two metres from the ground, the Snitch appeared to suddenly veer off to the right, causing Dupont to have enough time to pull up out of the dive. However, Johnston seemed to realise that he had run out of room. "Oh my god, he's going to break his neck!" Bea screamed.

But she was wrong. In a desperate bid to get the Snitch, Johnston threw himself off his broom entirely, leaping to the side after the Snitch and wildly snatching out with his hands. He hit the ground with a crash, the entire crowd screaming, "OHHHHH!" as he rolled. Suddenly, everyone went quiet as several mediwizards rushed out to attend to him.

"… I believe Johnston eez out of action!" the commentator was saying to the now silent crowd. "Zat was some dive and eef I'm not mistaken, 'e eez most definitely unconscious! 'ang on … zere eez word coming from zee referee …"

Down on the grass of the pitch, the referee was standing over the unconscious body of Johnston. When the referee stood back up, he gave a blast of his whistle; the whistle that signified the Snitch caught and the game over. Sure enough, when Bea and I jostled over the binoculars to watch, it was to see the referee prising open Johnston's hand and the golden glow of the Snitch.

"He caught it!" Bea cried.

"Holy shit!" I said in amazement.

"I DON'T BELEVE EET!" the commentator roared. "JOHNSTON DID EET! 'E CAUGHT ZEE SNITCH! THE GAME 'AS ENDED, 260-400! PUDDLEMERE UNITED WIN!"

And that was about when the entire stands exploded.

Everyone just started screaming, blue flags being torn through the air and people yelling and hugging each other in pure ecstasy. James was practically crying onto Libby's shoulder, using her robes as a handkerchief. Al roared in triumph, throwing his arms around me and spinning me around as Bea punched a fist into the air. Al dumped me on his other side so he could throw himself at his fiancé and practically snog her on the spot.

"ROSE, WE WON!" came Sophie's excited voice next to me and I cheered with her. I wasn't even planning on it, but I hugged her in excitement. I felt her tense; probably wondering if this was some ploy to get her to let her guard down before I strike. But she soon hugged me back, the two of us nearly falling over in our enthusiasm. In front of me, Louis was kissing the French girl he had spoken to before the match in what I can only guess was a condolence snog, considering that they lost. Max was cheering, despite Teddy trying to explain that their team didn't win. Dom was swearing while Auntie Fleur just hugged Victoire, almost crying.

"I can't believe it!" Sophie cried, pulling away and holding onto my arms to look at me. "We are so celebrating tonight!"

"Looks like it's drinks at ours!" I agreed, laughing.

"Rosie … thank you for bringing me," Sophie said, grinning. "If you hadn't insisted on an extra ticket, I wouldn't be here!"

"Hey, it's fine!" I said. Suddenly, Bea was squealing behind me and Sophie pushed past to get in a tangled hug with the others. I had almost forgotten that there was one other person on the end of our row when a set of arms almost knocked me off my feet.

"ROSE!" Scorpius yelled, delightfully. His arms wrapped tightly around my waist and he cheered loudly as he practically threw me through the air. I didn't even get a say in it, just held on and grinned into his neck. He put me down, but didn't let go, continuing to simply stand there, hugging me like the world was going to blow up tomorrow.

Eventually, though, he realised that this was probably wildly inappropriate and quickly let me go. I thumped back to my feet with a jolt and when I glanced up at him, the screams and cheers of the celebrating Puddlemere fans became just distorted noise in the background.

"Uh …" he said, tugging on the roots of his hair. "Sorry …"

"It's fine." I said, wondering why I was speaking so calmly.

"But we won!" he cried, staring at the pitch, where the Puddlemere team, minus the unconscious Johnston, were doing a celebratory lap around the stadium. "Knew he'd get it right in the end!"

"Definitely," I breathed, staring at him. "He got it right."

* * *

Trying to get through the crowd back to the Portkey was a nightmare. The stadium was in a huge clearing, but there wasn't a lot of space until the trees thickened and became the forest path back to the Apparition point and the international Portkey line. As such, the path was so congested with people that we could barely get out of the door of the stadium, let alone into the clearing.

"Hang onto me!" Bea cried, like I was going to do anything else. The crowd was full of cheers, a loud group of blokes about ten metres away singing a loud victory song. Every now and then, a bang would go off as someone's excitement would make their magic get the better of them. Max had already turned several people pink, proving that he was definitely going to make it to Hogwarts one day. We had unfortunately lost my family in the crowd, so it was just James attempting to lead our line. I say attempting, not because of the crowd, but because he kept getting distracted. Libby had to force him to stay on track and not run off to join in the entire choral of people who had started singing and cheering. A couple of feet away, a rather dodgy-looking bloke was handing out what he called, 'free mints for a good time!' and Libby had to practically wrestle James away. He was more or less on a high already; we didn't need him on an _actual_ one.

"Aw, Lib!" James cried as Libby shoved him on, dangerously letting go of Al so she could shove with both hands. "C'mon, I just wanted to–"

"I know exactly what you wanted to do!" Libby said, almost laughing. "Now c'mon, we can celebrate when we get back to England!"

I was currently holding onto Bea for dear life in front of me; behind me, Sophie was attached to my hand, Scorpius bringing up the rear. However, just as Libby reached back for Al once more, an entire surge of people came sprinting towards us, nearly knocking us over as they bolted. Al was thrown back into Bea with a yell and I shrieked as Bea stood on my feet. Libby was shoved in the opposite direction and we glanced up just in time to see the fire-bomb careening towards us.

"SHIT!" someone cried and we screamed, throwing ourselves to the side. The huge ball of flames crashed into the ground right where we had been standing and several girls around us screeched.

Someone had knocked me to the ground and by the time I looked up, Bea's hand for me to hold was gone completely. Al was missing and all I could see was a large group of pink-clad men with their wands out, yelling and fighting it out with the Puddlemere fans who had been singing. The song had been cut off as Puddlemere, never one to take things lightly, fought back. Curses were suddenly reigning over everyone's heads and the crowd shrieked and ran, pushing and shoving, trying anything to batter their way through to the relative safety of the trees. A teenager ran straight over me and the heel of her boot accidentally kicked me in the forehead. I cried out and suddenly, Sophie and Scorpius were there, dragging me up from the ground and pulling my bloody hand away from my head. "C'mon, Rose!" Scorpius was yelling, taking my hand. "We have to get out of here!"

"But – the others –" I began, stupidly.

"We'll find them later, for now, we have to go, so let's GO!" he yelled, hauling me after him so hard, my arm was nearly pulled out of its socket. Sophie had helped pull me up by my other arm and she was behind me, holding my other hand and pointing out a way through the rioting crowd.

Because it had turned into an all-out riot now. Security guards were storming through the crowd, immobilising duellers and I saw one guard yell for the French Law Enforcement. The two sides were battling it out, some even resorting to Muggle duelling when they realised that their opponent was much more skilled than they were. One bloke punched a fist straight into another's face and a couple trying to run away got stuck in the middle of a fight. The guy lashed out to protect his girlfriend and the resulting spat was lost under a melee of screaming and more people rushing across my vision. I would never know what happened to them.

Scorpius was calling back, possibly asking if we were ok, but I couldn't think straight. My head was starting to hurt and I had to keep blinking in order to be able to see. At one point, Scorpius halted in his tracks and I crashed into his back. When I glanced down, I saw that when my head bumped into the back of his, blood was smeared all over his blood hair. With a surge of panic, I realised that my head must still be bleeding.

"Rose, are you ok?!" Sophie yelled, since I had cried out.

"What?" Scorpius looked back. "Rose–!"

"MOVE!" I yelled, noticing a group of duellers were struggling our way. One Puddlemere fan was defending himself with fire, practically throwing it at the Quiberon supporters. Several people were screaming, trying to scarper and I used mine and Scorpius's joined hands to shove him, make him move forward. Unfortunately, Sophie got caught; whether it was on the tide of escaping Quidditch fans or by something else, I didn't know, but when Scorpius and I lunged out of the way, Sophie was ripped out of my hand's grip with a shriek. "SOPHIE!" I yelled, but when Scorpius and I glanced back, she was nowhere to be seen.

"Rose, we have to–"

"Scorpius, she's your _girlfriend_–!"

"I KNOW!" Scorpius roared, gripping my forearms very tightly. "But we're going to be slaughtered!"

Just as he said that, one of the Puddlemere duellers' fire blasts went out of hand. Out of control, he threw a beach-ball sized hunk of fire speeding towards the Quiberon supporters. Yelling, they diverted it and the fire flew our way. Scorpius's eyes widened and the people around us tried to scatter. We were pushed back and unable to run fast enough. Scorpius just turned his back on the upcoming blast, spun me around and hauled me to him as tightly as possible. He yelled and I screamed as the blast threw dirt and rocks everywhere and we were nearly thrown off our feet. When he finally let me look up, I glanced over his shoulder to see a six-foot deep hole in the ground, only a foot away from Scorpius and I.

I glanced up at him. "You tried to save me." I said in amazement.

"And since you're still talking, I'm guessing it worked! Consider us square!" Scorpius said, hurriedly. "Now, c'_mon_!"

He dragged me through the crowd; we pushed and shoved, we had to be ruthless to try and get to the trees. Just as we darted around another fight, I saw a flash of blond and suddenly, Bea was running at me, throwing her arms around my neck and crying. Al was right behind her, yelling, "Are you ok?! Where's Sophie?!"

"We lost her – James – Libby–?"

"No idea!" Al yelled as I muttered in Bea's ear that it would be all right. "We got to the path, but it was blocked! Security are trying to keep the rioters from escaping, but no one can get out! We have to get through the trees!"

The four of us were forced to double back. Al had panicked when he saw the blood on my head and I had shaken him off when he tried to stop and heal me. We didn't have time and I was sure that the pounding in my head would stop soon. We ploughed through crowds of people running in the opposite direction and finally, caught a glimpse of a clear path to the trees. Bea cried out with relief as we started running.

Suddenly, over all the screams, yelling of spells and crying, I heard something familiar. A voice I was starting to know well. Sure enough, I halted mid-run, causing Scorpius to reel back as he held onto my hand. "SOPHIE!" I roared.

Sure enough, Sophie was in the middle of a fight. The normally sweet, kind Hufflepuff was being forced to practically fight for her life; several Quiberon supporter's had grabbed her and were throwing her around. Despite the large cut on her arm, she was scowling and punched the closest bloke man-handling her. "Get OFF me!" she shrieked, but the man just laughed and waved his wand, snapping the magical rope across her face and throwing her to the ground with a scream.

"_Rose_–!" Scorpius yelled, but I had already thrown him off, running straight into the middle of the riot.

The bloke who attacked Sophie noticed me coming and started laughing more with his mates. But that laughter soon turned to one of, _oh, shit_, when he noticed the wand in my hand and the murderous look on my face. "Don't you TOUCH her!" I yelled, throwing the first curse I could think of at him. Instantly, giant bogies flew out of his nose and started attacking him. As I reached out a hand to help Sophie up from the ground, the bloke yelped,

"AH! Girl's a nutbar – OUCH!"

"_Bloody psychopath_!"

Only one of many things I have been called in my lifetime, mate. I hauled Sophie up from the ground and tore back through the crowd. Scorpius, Al and Bea had made it to the trees; the latter two were being forced to hold Scorpius back, as he seemed to be fighting to rush back into the riot. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING–?!" he roared.

"Shut up, she's safe, isn't she?" I grumbled, clutching at my head as it gave a particularly painful stab. As we stumbled into the trees, Scorpius didn't seem to know who to hug or who to punch. Eventually, he just settled on hugging Sophie to him, tightly. Bea squeezed my shoulder, Al right behind her. In the next second, Scorpius was shoving Bea aside to hug me.

"Thank you," he muttered into my hair. "Just … _never_ do that again …"

"You're welcome," I muttered back.

And that was when I passed out in his arms.

* * *

When voices started ringing in my head, I screwed up my nose in protest. My head was throbbing and when I opened my eyes, the lights were far too bright. However, a voice I recognised said my name and I figured it was only polite to find out who it was.

"Rosie, darling?"

"What the …?" I blinked several times and the ground-floor, artefacts accidents emergency department of St Mungo's swam into existence. I was in the hospital? "Ohhh … my head … right …"

"Got hit rather hard, but you'll be fine, darling," Jono was grinning down at me and I found myself smiling back. I was lying on the hospital bed, along with several other patients in the extremely busy emergency department. I glanced up at my friend and he answered my question before I even had a chance to answer it. "Don't worry, you have a minor concussion and it took you a while to come back round to us, but woe and behold, you have graced us with your presence again! Your family and friends are in the waiting room."

"Thanks, Jono," I told him. I tried to sit up and I winced as the room span. "Oh, Merlin … I am _never_ going to a Puddlemere game again."

"It's all over the news!" Jono agreed, writing something down on my file before signing it over to his Healer supervisor. The entire room was bustling with people, most probably having fled the country at the first signs of riot. In a panic, I realised that I didn't know what had happened to some people. "Jono! My family – is Teddy and Victoire ok? Max, Dom–"

"–don't worry, darling," Jono held up a hand to cut me off. "When I said your family was waiting, I meant your _entire _family, including the ones who were in France with you. I was also instructed by your friend, Libby, to tell you when you woke up – hang on," he glanced at something he had apparently hastily jotted down on the back of his hand. "'James and I are ok, now wake up, bitch, so we can go out and celebrate the best Quidditch match ever'."

"Got to love Libby," I snorted. Only she could get away with saying something like that. "Am I allowed to go home?"

"You are free to leave now that you are conscious," Jono said, happily. He flicked his wand and a quill wrote by itself on a piece of parchment before flying over into my hands. "This is for your head. Make sure you take it to the pharmacy before you leave, otherwise I'll force you there myself."

"Thank you, Jono," I said again, giving him a grin. He helped me steady on my feet and walk to the doors that lead to the accidents department waiting room. "Why isn't someone with me?" I asked Jono as he opened the door for me. "Not that I'm complaining that no one loves me, but you just said that my whole family was here, so–"

The reason for no one being next to me when I woke up was clear the second we walked through the doors. All of my family and friends seemed to be arguing.

"Er, good luck with that," Jono said, patting me on the shoulder. "I have to get back to work, but I wish you well and … er, hope you survive." He gave me a grim smile before delving back into the emergency department and I turned to face the carnage in the packed waiting room.

Ok, maybe not _everyone _from my family was there, but from the way they were yelling, it certainly seemed like they all were. The main sides seemed to be my mum and dad, versus Scorpius and Bea, which I thought was extremely strange, since my parents loved Bea; admittedly, Scorpius was debatable. The other families in the waiting room were watching the argument with half bemused, half scared looks. I sighed, exasperatedly. Only the Weasley's. Everyone else seemed to be siding as family verses friends and I had to scream to make myself heard.

"OI!" I yelled, then cringed as my head throbbed at the noise. I waved my prescription in my hand to get their attention and almost laughed at the looks on their faces. "Rose Weasley, not unconscious anymore?"

"Oh, my baby!" Mum cried, practically throwing Scorpius out of her way to crush me in her arms. I swear I nearly blacked out again and Dad had to prise her arms off me. Hugo was grinning behind my parents and not far away, Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur were waiting, looking terribly guilty; as they hugged me, they admitted they were ashamed that they'd let me out of their sight during the riot. I said I didn't blame them; the second the fighting had started, they had Apparated their family out of there to Auntie Fleur's parent's house. Max tugged on my jeans and I picked him up for a cuddle, smiling as Dom wrapped her arms around us both.

My friends all seemed relatively unharmed and we spoke rather enthusiastically about what had happened after I'd passed out. Apparently, after realising exactly how much blood there was on my head and simply going limp in his arms, Scorpius had freaked out and nearly Apparated on the spot. I hadn't been the only one with injuries; Sophie had needed the cuts on her arm and face sealing, James had twisted his ankle, and Al had a large bruise on his cheek from taking a punch for Bea. It took several moments of everyone talking at once, but I eventually deduced that everyone had been arguing over who got to sit in with me in the emergency department, since only one person was allowed. Having argued for so long, I had woken up before they had come to a decision.

I kissed Max on the cheek before passing him back to Victoire and glancing around, that was when I realised that two people were missing, both of whom I wanted to make sure were ok; Scorpius and Sophie. They had been there a moment ago, but now they seemed to have disappeared.

"I dunno," Al had shrugged when I asked him. "I thought Sophie said something about getting some tea for us all before going home …?"

"I have to pick up the potion for my head before leaving," I told him. "The pharmacy's up by the tea room, I'll go find her."

"I'll come with you!" Al said at once, taking my hand. I laughed and squeezed his fingers.

"I swear, I'm fine, Al," I told him. "I'm awake now, I'm not going to keel over!"

"Even so," He gave me a half worried, half relieved look. "You scared me back in France. Don't do that again. Ok?"

"Ok." I let Al hug me, mainly because he looked like he needed it. I managed to wave off several others as I moved towards the stairs. The sheer amount of people was starting to become overwhelming and passing out again really would _not_ help fend off the worry.

I hadn't moved far into the stairwell, however, when I realised that I could hear two heated voices, arguing. Curious, I moved further up the stairs, taking care not to turn the corner where the stairs twisted around. The two people were clearly on the other side of the turn where they couldn't see me and their voices echoed; I could hear everything and it didn't take long to realise I really _shouldn't_ be hearing it.

"… her!" Sophie's voice said, sounding upset.

"I swear, it's not like that! You _know_ it's not!" Scorpius said back. I knew that voice. That was the voice he used when trying to convince himself that a lie was the truth.

"Do I?" Sophie snapped back. "It's not that hard to figure out, I'm such an idiot–"

"No, you're not–"

"Yes! I am!" Sophie cut in. "I was blinded at first, too caught up in you – but the two of you weren't really speaking then, so it was easy to ignore! But now … I can see it in your eyes, you're slowly falling back in love with her!"

"Rose and I are _over_!" Scorpius cried and even though I _knew _what they were talking about, hearing my name still made my insides freeze.

"Maybe officially, but the feelings are still there, Scorpius!" Sophie yelled. "I can tell! I'm not _that _unobservant, it's written all over your face! James' party, she teased you, taunted you with that Healer she went out with and it _bothered _you! You were jealous and I saw that look when she kissed him. Then there was that dinner at Libby's – something _happened _in that kitchen, didn't it?"

"Not … not like that …" Scorpius said, weakly. I could only imagine his face now. I didn't know what to feel.

"Of course," Sophie said, shortly. "Because it's _never _been 'like that' with Rose."

"Sophie, I _swear_ to you," Scorpius said, desperately. "The entire time we've been together, Rose and I have _never_ done anything like your imagining! Hell, half the time I wanted to strangle her! I know I've been a horrible bastard, but I'm not a _cheater_."

I heard Sophie sigh and for a moment, her voice was softer. "I know, Scorpius," she said. "I know you aren't. But you get why I still asked you, right? I didn't think it was right of you to be asking me out after only being broken up for two months and I was _right_," she added, sounding resigned. "I shouldn't have said yes."

"I – why is this coming up _now_?" Scorpius sounded defeated, like he knew there was no point in reasoning.

"At the Quidditch match," Sophie said, thickly. Hell, I hoped she wasn't crying. "When she passed out in your arms. That look on your face … you were so _scared_, scared that she was hurt, scared that she was going to _die_ … and it was more scared than you were when you thought I was hurt. It was the last thing I could take without seriously kidding myself. Even now, you were fighting tooth and nail against her parents, wanting to be the one who got to sit by her side."

Scorpius apparently had no answer to that, since they were both silent, save for the odd sniff and painful sob. Sophie was obviously crying and I hated it. I hated that she was upset, hated Scorpius for making her upset, hated myself for being a part of it.

"I'm so sorry."

"I know," Sophie said again.

"So … what happens now?"

Sophie gave an exasperated sigh. "Oh, Scorpius. Surely you know what happens now?"

"Soph … you're not serious?"

"Scorpius, you already know the answer to that," Sophie said. Then, in a harsher tone that didn't suit her, "Besides, I would have thought you'd be pleased."

"Pleased that my relationship is falling apart? No matter who it was with, I'd never be _pleased_ about it, Sophie. But," Scorpius paused for a moment. "you're right."

"… I didn't think you'd admit that," Sophie said.

There was a moment where I assumed Scorpius shrugged, a reluctant expression on his face. "There's no point in kidding ourselves. Me and you … we were good, but we weren't perfect. And there's her … I just know that if I tried to fight this, I'd end up hurting everyone more than I already have. And I don't want to do that."

There was a pause in which neither of them said anything and I guessed that Sophie had nodded silently, and I held onto the bannister tightly, lest my legs give out and I go tumbling down the stairs. Then, Sophie suddenly said, "Look, Scorpius, there's only one way this could be fixed and that's for you to tell me that you don't love her," I turned to stare, as if I could see their expressions right through the stairs and bannisters blocking my vision. Holy _crap_. "Just to look me in the eye, Scorpius, and _tell me_ you don't love her. Can you?"

I didn't even know what I wanted to hear. Nothing I heard I would be prepared for and sure enough, I felt the shock of my life when Scorpius said in a quiet voice,

"… I _can't_."

I didn't hear Sophie answer for a while; I guessed that she nodded, or perhaps she simply burst into tears. I couldn't tell. Then, I heard her voice and I couldn't tell if it was bitter or not,

"That's what I thought."

Suddenly, I heard footsteps and I realised that she was coming back down the stairs. I scarpered as fast as my throbbing head would take me and I hid behind the doors to the stairwell, just as Sophie hurried past, giving me a glimpse of her tear-stained face.

Merlin's beard, I think we have an issue.

Conclusion to violent Quidditch matches and Scorpius and Sophie … did they actually _break up_?:

-I stood in place behind the doors for several moments after that, completely frozen. "_I can't_." Did Scorpius honestly still _love _me?

-Al and Bea fussed over me the entire night, making me dinner and practically forcing me into bed. I _tried _to mention that I could take care of myself, but they seemed insistent on mothering me. At least it would be a good dry run for when they have kids or something.

-Holy shit. Scorpius still loves me!

Rose: 23, Scorpius: 19.

(To be perfectly honest, I don't think either of us deserve a point here).

* * *

A/N: For those who have not seen/been told yet, I changed the ending of the previous chapter. My reasoning's for doing so are in that AN. Thank you for the support so far, it's been really encouraging!

And for future chapter's sakes, I'm going to say now that YES, they DID really break up. But naturally, these things can be tricky and Rose, well, she has no idea what's going on anymore, does she? I hope the scene worked well, I didn't want to place too much blame on either of them, lest they come off as horrible people, but they simply weren't working because of Rose, so it was hard not to. I hope Scorpius doesn't come off too douchey for being in love with someone else and I hope Sophie was upset, yet not a bitch about it. :)

And QUIDDITCH! Haven't written a match since GIR, so I wanted a chapter that featured it! It was a lot of fun!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! You never fail me with your comments, so I'm sure you'll have something to say. The next chapter I can exclusively reveal is called 'The Hot One' so feel free to interpret that as you like. :) Thank you once again for just reading and being awesome!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	28. The Unbelievable One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, Spain, ex's, or unbelievable things.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 27: The Unbelievable One.

You know those moments of pure panic? Moments where something just _happens_ and your brain can't handle it? It goes into shock. You should be saying something, you _need _to say something, but your mouth won't open and the world is bloody ending and in the end, you just squeak out, 'Eeh!' before scarpering at lightning speed?

That has been my life constantly for the past week.

"Rosie!" Bea cried, since my jump had made her spill tea everywhere. A distant knock down the hallway had made me leap up in alarm and unfortunately, I didn't factor in my flailing arms. Bea just looked at me with an odd expression, cleaning up the mess with her wand and placing a hand tentatively on my shoulder, forcing me back down onto the sofa next to her. "It's fine, my sister's got a modelling job across the city today, she won't be making any surprise visits!"

"Yes," I muttered, still staring at the door, even though most people never knocked and just barged straight through anyway. "That's good …"

"_Rose_!" Bea yelled and I yelped, snapping to face her. With a week to go until her wedding, you'd expect her to be stressed and speaking in a mix of acronyms and wedding jargon. But Bea Bowmen isn't normal; she seemed to be about as laidback as you could get! I don't know how the hell she does it. "What's wrong? And don't tell me 'nothing', because you've been acting _weird _all week."

I think acting weird was an understatement. Acting _paranoid_ was closer to the truth. Every time a door was knocked on, every time Layla swept in with a new letter, every time the fellytone rang, I freaked, worrying that it would be Scorpius.

Oh, yes. I think if there was ever a time to _panic_, it would be now!

"Bea …" I started as my best friend just raised an eyebrow, putting down the book she had been reading, as if she simply knew that she wasn't going to get through any more pages that night. With both of us having suffered through exhausting days at work, we had used the night to have 'Rosie and Bea Time', snuggling up together on the sofa to read books for fun (something practically non-existent in my life at the moment). However, I don't think she counted on me jumping every five seconds.

It wasn't that I didn't _want_ to talk to her about what was freaking me out. But ever since our three weeks of not speaking, I had been rather reluctant to bring up any sensitive topics in our conversation, especially if it had anything to do with Scorpius. I was afraid that we'd have another clash of opinions and I _never_ wanted to fight with Bea again. But I knew that I was slowly starting to go insane after overhearing that conversation in the stairwell at St Mungo's.

So I finished my sentence and asked, "Am I allowed to … um, ask you something?"

Bea sat up on the sofa, looking at me quizzically. "Rosie, we've been 'asking each other something' ever since we met. Why wouldn't you be _allowed_?"

"I don't want to fight again," I blurted out. "But I want to be able to talk to you like we used to!"

"Oh, Rosie," Bea smiled. "I can't promise you that we'll never fight again, but I swear, I will do whatever it takes to resolve it. There's no way I'm not speaking to you again."

"So I can ask?" I asked, hesitantly. "Even though it's about … y'know, Scorpius."

Bea just gave a shrug. "Rosie, all we ever seem to do is complain about the men in our lives," she said. "We've been through the worse. Just go right ahead."

"Well … have you spoken to him, lately?"

Bea just looked at me for a moment. "What, have we suddenly reverted back to first-year?" she joked. "You're not seriously asking 'has he said anything about me?' right? I mean, I thought you two were just starting to figure out how to get along again!"

"We were – we _are_ –" I winced, trying to find the right wording. "I don't even know anymore. Look, I just mean, has he mentioned anything about … well, Sophie, to you? Or Al?"

"Why should he?" she asked.

"Honestly? Because I think they broke up a week ago."

Bea's eyes went wide. "_What_?" she cried. "A week – broke – _what_?!"

"I overheard them, ok?" I said quickly, before she could have a heart attack at this particular piece of gossip. "At St Mungo's! It was just after we got back from France and the Quidditch match. I was going to go get my prescription, but they were arguing in the stairwell and, well, it was kind of hard not to listen …"

Bea just let out a breath she'd been holding. "Hell, Rosie," she said. "He hasn't mentioned Sophie at all to me, but then, he was always rather private about her. Seemed to think if he told me something, I'd immediately go and tell you."

"You would."

"Well, that's not the point," Bea said, hastily. "I haven't noticed, but god … you are _sure _about this, right? I mean, did you actually _hear _them break up?"

"She was accusing him of still being in love with me, Bea," I said, exasperatedly. "There was the whole 'what happens now?' speech and then, she said that she couldn't do it anymore before storming off! I kind of took that to mean the end of the relationship."

"Ok, I'll give you that, I agree," Bea said. "It certainly sounds like they broke up. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen them together since then."

"The thing is," I said, getting to the root of my internal dilemma now. "Right at the end, Sophie dared Scorpius to tell her that he didn't still love me. And … he said he couldn't say it."

If I thought Bea looked surprised before, I was wrong; now, I swear her eyes practically fell out of her head. She had been in the process of leaning over the sofa for her mug of tea (or whatever tea she had left), but at my words she missed the coffee table completely and nearly fell off the sofa. She didn't seem to take any notice. "Holy buggering _Merlin_!" she said.

"I know!"

"Scorpius is _still in love with you_?!"

"_I know_!" I said. "I don't know what to do, Bea, he hasn't said anything and I haven't said anything and it's _freaking me out_–!"

"Ok, ok, calm down," Bea said, quickly, reaching out and squeezing my shoulder. "God, I can't believe this! I mean, I should, it was bloody obvious that he hasn't really let go of you ever since you broke up."

"Brilliant," I muttered. I had a feeling that Bea was going to say something along those lines and it made me feel slightly nauseated. "Bea, what do I _do_?"

"Well, what d'you _want_ to do?"

"Honestly? Hide under my bed, living off chocolate for the rest of my life," I told her.

Bea snorted. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help, Rosie," she said. "but I think it all comes down to you. Yes, it's complicated and yes, it's hard to know what to think right now, but only you can decide what happens next. Are you going to tell him you know?"

"Hell no!" I cried at once.

"Yes, I expected that response," Bea sniggered. Then, she glanced at me and asked, "Well, then … are _you _still in love with him?"

Oh, dear. _That _question. I swear, that question has been taunting me, tearing at my mind and rendering me a comatose lemon for the entire week. I'd been thinking about it non-stop and I _still _couldn't come up with an answer.

"Honestly?" I said, eventually. "I don't know. I really don't know."

"Well, I'd suggest not saying anything until you _do _know," Bea said. "Confronting him when you don't know what you want would only end up badly, I'm sure."

"But it's been so confusing!" I said. "Like you said, we've slowly been growing closer again, going back to how we used to be, and then suddenly, _this _happened and he's acting like nothing's changed! But he's wrong, everything's changed, and I don't know how to act around him anymore! He's probably under the impression that I've reverted back to childish revenge, since I've been basically avoiding him the past week, but I can't even explain that I'm not! And even if he _did _say something, why should I even take him back? He's been nothing but an idiot since we broke up! It's driving me mental and with your wedding and my work, I keep thinking my head's about to explode!"

Far from giving me helpful advice, Bea just stared for a moment or two. I stared desperately back before suddenly, Bea burst into laughter. Figuring that joking about this was better than getting worked up, I couldn't help but laugh with her. "Oh – oh, god, Rosie," Bea giggled. "This is just unbelievable. How do you end up in these situations?"

"I've got no idea," I admitted. "It's times like these when I wish I was the one getting married, if only so I could be guaranteed a lovely, normal life."

"You think being married will be lovely and normal?" Bea snorted. "Please, Rosie. I'm freaking out about this almost as much as you're freaking out about Scorpius. I'm barely 23 and I'm getting _married_!"

"I can live with that," I grinned. "Want to swap lives?"

Bea laughed. "On second thoughts, I think I will stick with getting married," she said. "Maybe once LL comes back for the wedding, she can sort this all out for us. Does she know what happened at the Puddlemere match last week?"

I nodded. The riot had been all over the news, though thankfully, not caused by my idiot cousins this time. James and Fred had only just completed all their community service for accidentally blowing up Uncle George's shop. Even if we hadn't told Lily, I would have been surprised if she hadn't found out through the newspapers. "She's glad we didn't get more hurt," I said. "Apart from my head and a couple of bruises, we got off lightly."

"You're not wrong there," Bea agreed. Despite falling unconscious, I was definitely one of the lighter injuries. Out of the thousands of fans at that game, hundreds were injured and two people had actually died. Despite all of us getting away, I found that the close call had shaken me quite a bit, especially when Sophie came to thank me at the hospital.

I had been avoiding her gaze since leaving the stairwell and finally getting my prescription. Though she'd acted like her usual self, I could tell she had only stuck around to make sure everyone would be ok. I didn't expect her to approach me, but as the group of us crossed the main waiting room, I'd felt her tug on my sleeve.

"Rose," she had said. "I want to say thank you."

"What for?" I had said, figuring that there was _nothing_ I could do for her to be thankful of. But apparently, I had underestimated Sophie's kindness, since she'd legitimately smiled and said,

"For saving me. During the riot," she'd added, probably at the confusion on my face. "You didn't have to, but you ran back for me and if it weren't for you, I might have come out a lot worse. So I'm thanking you."

"Oh, you know …" I hadn't wanted to admit it, but I had done it simply because Sophie had become my friend and I hadn't wanted her to get hurt. "You're welcome."

"I'm serious," Sophie had told me and her face agreed. "You saved me, Rosie, and I am extremely thankful." She had screwed up her nose at that point and I'd known exactly why. It wasn't hard to notice the change in what she'd called me. "I'm sorry," she had said. "Am I allowed to call you that? 'Rosie', I mean."

The gut reaction was to give her a flat out _no_, but I hadn't wanted to say it. Rosie was what my friends called me, my family, and somehow, without me wanting her to or even realising it, Sophie had become a part of that. And despite the fact that becoming friends with Sophie was probably a really bad idea, I had found myself answering, "Yeah … yes, Rosie's fine. I don't mind at all."

I really have never been more confused.

"Y'know, Rosie?" Bea said over my thoughts. I looked to see her smiling at me. "There's this crazy little thing in the world called shit. It happens. It screws up lives. It would be lovely if we could all hide under rocks – Merlin knows it would be a better wedding than the one Queen Annie's planning – but sooner or later, we have to face it. When we do though, Rosie, know that I'll be facing it with you."

I reached for her hand. "Can't we just get married?" I asked her and she snorted.

"Rosie, I love you," she said, squeezing my fingers. "But don't take this personally when I say _no way in hell_."

I laughed. "Fair enough."

* * *

The next day, I left for my shift early, so I could drop in at _Café Julio_ for a coffee and a chat with my dear cousin on my way to work. About eight thirty in the morning, I stuck my head out of our front door and checked that the hallway was clear before shutting it quickly and walking sideways down the hall, hugging the wall. Heart pounding, I listened for another second, before quickly darting across the hall and practically crashing through the doors to the stairwell.

Thank god, another morning with bumping into Scorpius. The answer is _yes_, I think I _have _gone slightly insane.

It still felt unnatural to walk into _Café Julio_ and to not see Libby there behind the counter. As much as she loved Cursebreaking and the odd creepy boss every now and then, I knew that she had loved the café as well. I always remembered one morning, about five years ago, when I had come in to see Libby in the middle of what she had declared a 'musical day' at the café. She was singing every order, twirling and making people laugh as she served them. I had just watched in amazement as she had noticed me and sang out, "_Gooooood morning, Rosie_!" before sashaying past James at the counter with a teasing swing of her hips. My cousin had almost fallen off his stool.

That had been _before_ they had got off at the night club and spent the night together. Now look at them! Lately, I had been having trouble trying to believe in love. But the thing I had found out recently, which came to me especially when I looked at James and Libby, was that love was just pretty damn unbelievable sometimes.

And that was what made them work.

With my nose buried in a text book, I hadn't noticed Sophie at all until I walked straight into her. We both shrieked as her coffee to go was spilt all over her and I inwardly freaked out. Being in the middle of a Muggle shop, I couldn't even magic the stain, or blistering skin away!

What is wrong with you, Rosie?

"God – I'm so sorry!" I said.

"Oh, Rose–" Sophie didn't look like she was going to strangle me when he looked up, so I took that as a good sign. Maybe the throttling will come later. The least I could do was buy her another coffee, so I quickly indicated to James behind the counter and he gestured with some paper towels as well.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see that, can you do it again?" he had muttered to me as I grabbed the paper towels off him.

I had whacked him over the head in answer and he laughed.

"I can't believe I just did that, I'm so sorry!" I said as soon as I was in ear-shot. Sophie just waved a hand, accepting the paper towels with a grateful expression.

"It's fine, honestly," she said. "I'm not looking forward to work anyway, so this is a lovely distraction."

"Lovely? I just threw hot coffee all over you!" I said.

"Rosie, it's _fine_," she insisted, giving me a smile.

I took her word for it, but why the hell was she _smiling_? She _had_ to hate me. I hated me! But Sophie was looking genuinely pleased to see me and it was confusing the heck out of me. I had no idea what to say to her, so clearly the safest thing was to say nothing. Say nothing, wish her a good day, then go and lose yourself in work. That's your best bet!

"… so what's up with you and Scorpius lately?" I blurted out.

That's it. I'm not even going to pretend I have a filter anymore.

I cringed the moment the words had come out of my mouth, but in the end, I didn't want to take them back. I was curious, I'll admit, as much as I hated causing the look on Sophie's face. "Did he tell you?" she asked me.

"Tell me, er … what?" I asked, feebly.

"_Rose_," Sophie said, looking like she was trying not to laugh at me. "I can tell he told you. It's written all over your face, though you don't want to admit it. It's ok, I swear."

I gave in. "Ok, I know what happened. But if it helps, he didn't tell me any of it!"

"Then how the hell d'you know?"

"I kind of overheard you," I admitted, never having been so ashamed in my life. "At St Mungo's, on the stairs. Oh, god, I'm so sorry, Sophie. I'm such a – I can't believe you're even talking to me–"

"Whoa, Rosie, calm down!" Sophie said, taking my shoulder and squeezing it. She spotted an empty table nearby and she led me over to it quickly, making me sit next to her. Now this was something I never really expected. Why was she being so nice to me?

"Ok," Sophie said. "I understand that you're sorry. I even understand being upset. But _why _do you think I would not want to talk to you?"

I just stared at her. "Sophie, I've got no idea what's going on," I said, my thoughts starting to tumble out of my head. "Me and you, we're friends, yeah? But there's Scorpius. There's always been Scorpius, even though I've never resented you for that. Or well, maybe just a little. But only at the beginning when I didn't know you! You're amazing and everything perfect and you've been nothing but nice to me. Then …"

"We broke up," Sophie finished for me.

I nodded, weakly. "Yeah," I said. "and now … seeing you, I'm so confused. I thought, given what he said, you'd _hate_ me."

"Rose," Sophie almost looked like she wanted to laugh. "If there's one thing I've learnt since I've met you, it's that you can't help love. It just happens. You can't change it, turn it off, or even pause it. It's always there, whether you like it or not. Scorpius and I, we were both a little stupid when we started going out."

"But I've essentially ruined your relationship!" I cried. Seriously, just keep laying the blame, Rosie.

"No one ruined it, Rosie," Sophie told me, taking one of my hands. The gentle squeeze of her fingers was comforting and told me she meant every word she told me, despite looking at me with a subdued expression. "All that happened was that two people fell in love. Then, they forgot why, and one of them went about it the wrong way. Yeah, I'm a bit pissed off and upset and a part of me wants to blame it all on you, because it would be easier, but what would be the _point_ in that? It wasn't _your_ fault, you didn't go out of your way to break us up! I could have let my upset stew and let myself be angry, or I could have simply pushed that aside and got over it with a lot less resentment. I just don't want you thinking that this was all your fault and to resign yourself to living a life of misery."

I just stared at Sophie. When I first met her, I had wondered why she was so nice and even more importantly, _how_. Now, I realised that that wasn't it. She wasn't nice _all_ the time; she could feel, she could get angry and upset, just like the person sitting next to her at that table. But the big difference between them was that Sophie knew how to handle and sometimes just plain throw away that anger and upset. She knew how to bring only the nice into the world.

She knew it was no one's fault.

"I definitely don't deserve a friend like you," I told Sophie, giving her a genuine smile.

"Are you kidding?" she said, smiling back and tugging on my hand. "I don't deserve a friend like you!"

"_Me_? Sarcastic, psychotic, slightly deranged Rose Weasley?"

Sophie rolled her eyes, pulling her hand back as James approached with her new coffee. As she thanked him, I noticed him give me an extremely confused look, like why the hell was I sitting there having a lovely chat to Sophie of all people? I just waved him off; I could explain later.

"You're also forgetting," Sophie continued. "that you are Rose Weasley: fierce, loyal, dedicated and loving. You care about people."

"Never thought of myself like that," I added, honestly.

"And I was inconsiderate as well," Sophie told me. "I remember that dinner at Libby's place. I was happy to snuggle up and be close to Scorpius in front of you, even though I had a pretty good idea about how you both felt, even if I didn't want to face it. It was no excuse, I should have been more thoughtful."

"That's … god, Sophie, that's fine," I said, just accepting her apology with a smile. "It's completely fine."

"Thank you," Sophie smiled back. "Scorpius is a bloody idiot if he thinks letting you go is a good idea," she added.

She looked like she was trying to make a nice comment, but those words seized me around the throat. She had raised her coffee to her lips, but I grabbed the top hastily, pushing it back onto the table. "What do you mean _letting me go_?" I asked, quickly.

"Oh," Sophie winced. "I thought he must've already spoken to you? … I take it that's a no," she added at my somewhat fearful face.

"To be honest, I've been avoiding him for an entire week," I said.

"Oh, Rosie," Sophie shook her head. "Why isn't that surprising?"

"You've gotten to know me so well."

"Well, then, you should know," Sophie said. "We haven't exactly spoken since then either, but the next Monday at work, he came into my office and only told me two things: one, that he was sorry, and two, that I didn't have to worry, because there was no way he was going after you again."

At that, a crazy feeling went spiralling through me. It was like my entire insides were falling out until I was completely hollow. What the hell was happening?!

"He's … _giving up_?"

"I don't know," Sophie said, gently. "I didn't ask, he didn't elaborate. To be honest, I didn't want to know. I'm sorry, I don't want you to be unhappy, but I didn't want to listen to him talk about you. I'm not quite ready for _that _yet."

"Yes, I can imagine," I said. Something I had suddenly realised was that the idea of Scorpius giving up on me _I_ wasn't quite ready for.

* * *

"Holy shit, Rose," Gerald's voice said bluntly as I slumped into the seat next to him in the staff room. "You look like an elephant has sat on you."

"You have _no_ idea."

"Bad morning?"

"_Hell_ of a morning!" I admitted, letting my head flop down onto the table with a slight _bang_. Thanks to the conversation at _Café Julio_ this morning, I had been forced to practically run to work in order to be able to start bang on time. Healer Williams had chewed me out, but he didn't fire my arse on the spot, which I'd started to expect recently, so I was rather grateful.

Finally, I was able to slouch into the staff room for my break and I had made an immediate beeline for Gerald, who appeared to have just arrived for his shift.

"… you want to talk about it?" Gerald asked, hesitantly after a moment.

I thought. "Had a run in with Scorpius's ex this morning."

"_What_?" Gerald turned to stare down at me with a disbelieving expression. I turned my head on the table to meet his eye. "Since when was that Sophie chick his _ex_?"

"Since a week ago," I told him. "And they broke up because of me, of bloody course."

"Ok, start from the beginning, girl!" Gerald said, grabbing me by the shoulder and I let him haul myself upright. "I've only got ten minutes till shift starts, so talk fast!"

So I explained it to him; Gerald was always one of those people who I never spared the details for because really, he was always on my side! He only ever heard the story from my point of view, so who was there to influence him to think otherwise? I think everyone at some point needs to have that sure fire voice in their head that they know will always agree with you and for me, Gerald was it.

"… then this morning, Sophie tells me that it wasn't my fault and that essentially because he doesn't want to hurt us anymore, Scorpius is letting me go!" I let out a long breath; I'd had no idea that I hadn't breathed for about three sentences.

"Good god," Gerald was staring at me, wide-eyed. "You never half do it with these sorts of things, do you, Rosie?"

"If I'm going to screw something up, I suppose I might as well screw it up completely."

Gerald laughed. "… so Scorpius is still in love with you then?"

"I know! What the hell is wrong with him?!" I cried.

"Rosie," Gerald rolled his eyes at me. "If there's one thing I've learnt since I first met you, it's that it will _always_ be you and Scorpius."

"You're not helping me feel better, here," I admitted. "I'm going nuts! I've been avoiding him constantly since I heard them because I was afraid of him, I don't know, asking me to give him another shot or something. But now …"

"Do you not want him to?"

"I don't know _what_ to think anymore," I told Gerald. "I thought I was falling back in love with him. I didn't want it to happen, but hell, I don't think I could have stopped it, even if I tried. Then I found _this_ out and my mind went to a screeching halt, thank god. It's like … if we start talking again like we used to before this mess, my mind will just keep going back there and no matter what she says, I can't _hurt_ Sophie. They only _just_ broke up!"

"But Scorpius isn't going to go there again," Gerald pointed out. "According to Sophie, that is."

"I know. It should be a good thing. It _is_," I insisted, rubbing my forehead. "I don't know, Gerald. Who am I kidding? A little part of me held onto the idea of Scorpius; a part of me always flipping will, but that was ok so long as he was with someone else, because I could just ignore it."

"Rosie, you and I both know that the whole 'ignore it and hope for the best' tactic does _not _work," Gerald pointed out.

"Yes, yes, I've figured that out, funnily enough," I told him. "But _now _that I know he still loves me … a part of me went a bit crazy with the fantasies. And the idea that he might just _forget_ all that and shove it aside … while loyal and chivalrous of him, is kind of ripping my heart out."

"So, essentially, you've found yourself in the middle of an emotional crisis?"

"Yes, another in what I'm guessing will be a long string of them," I tried to joke back. I checked my watch and added, "You were also supposed to start work about five minutes ago. Your supervisor will have your arse if you don't haul it."

"Eh, I'll face the consequences," Gerald waved a hand dismissively. "I've already been kicked out of this course once before, like hell will I let them do it again this close to the end. Try and watch them, I'll hang on, kicking and screaming!"

"That, I can honestly say, I'd pay to see."

Gerald snorted, nudging my shoulder with his. "Rosie, I've got one piece of advice for you," he told me, freckly face serious now. "_Life is too short to give up on love_. Ally and I spent the better part of two years screwing around and messing things up. I gave up on her and look where that got us: two years lost, that we could have had spent together. I'll be forever kicking myself for that. I don't want to watch you make the same mistake."

"So your advice is to … what, try and convince him to go for it?"

Gerald shrugged. "It's up to you, in the end," he said. "Just promise me you'll consider my words. It might sound unbelievably cheesy, but all you need is love. Now," he added, glancing at his own watch and standing up. "I really _do _need to get to work, or I'll be working overtime from now, until selection day. Don't stress too much, Rosie, I'll need that brain of yours to pass exams!"

"Piss off," I grinned, shoving his hand away as it purposefully mussed up my hair. I smiled after him, though the knot in my stomach was still there, if alleviated slightly.

I had just been about to crack into my lunch when, not even thirty seconds later, Ally suddenly came running into the trainee staff room. Several people glanced up, but being so shy and unnoticed, many were quick to turn away. "Rose!" she called, almost leaping a chair to reach me.

"Ally?" I said, confused. "I thought you weren't working today–?"

"I'm not!" Ally answered and sure enough, she was wearing jeans and a jumper and I was nearly knocked out of my chair entirely when she finally reached me and, as a greeting, threw her arms around my neck.

"Merlin, Ally–!"

"Oh, Rosie, it's unbelievable!" she was saying, still hugging me tightly. "I only just heard! I _had_ to tell someone, and you and Gerald were both here, so I hoped to catch one of you–!"

"Ally, Ally!" I cried. "If you want to tell me something, you're going to have to ease up, or I'll fall unconscious in a minute!" I managed to pry her arms off me and she dropped down into Gerald's vacated seat, positively quivering. I'd seen Ally get excited before, normally over a new text book or exam results coming out, but never had I seen her so _wired_. It was like she had taken a rather large Cheering Charm to the head and it was scaring me slightly. "What's going on?" I began, hesitantly. "No one tried to hit on you again–?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that!" Ally said, immediately. "It's wonderful news! I just got the letter back from the capital wizarding hospital in Spain, _Garcia's Mágico Hospital_. They said _yes_, Rose!"

"Wait, wait …" I said, shaking my head. "Ally … you applied for a job in _Spain_?"

"And several other countries around Europe, the place didn't matter really," Ally shrugged this fact off as if it were minor; on the contrary, my dear friend, it was rather major! "The point is, I have been offered a job as a probational Healer, starting in two weeks!"

"Oh, my god," I said, simply stunned. "I … well, congratulations, I guess–"

"Oh, Rose!" Ally hugged me again, never having been so enthusiastic before. "Thank you so much!"

"Whoa, ok," I pulled her back, managing a smile. "I'm happy for you, I suppose. But please take me seriously when I ask why the bloody _hell _have you been applying for jobs all throughout _Europe_?"

Ally considered me for a moment. "I thought it would be obvious," she said.

"Not to me."

"Well …" Ally glanced at the floor. "Selection day is coming up. They have to get rid of _somebody_ and, well, I didn't make the cut before. It's clear I'm not the best, so I started preparing for overseas applications."

I just blinked at her explanation. She smiled, but looked resigned, like she actually _believed_ this load of shit was true. "Ally," I began. "Of all the people who are going to be cut, there is no way in utter _hell_ it would be you. You are _going_ to make it as full-Healer, whether you like it or not!"

"There are no guarantees, Rosie," Ally tried to reason. "And they didn't take me before, so who's to say–?"

"_I _will say!" I cut in. "No, listen to me, Ally! You are one of the best we have in this course and Healer Williams would have to be hit over the head with a bloody mallet to not take you! You made it this far, didn't you?"

"Rose–"

"I don't want to hear it," I said. "You're an amazing Healer, and you'll be chosen for sure."

Ally just smiled at me then, hiding her emotions behind her long hair like she always did. "Thank you, Rosie," she said, quietly.

"You're bloody welcome," I told her. "Now, we have another issue at hand: are you going to actually take the job?"

"Well, of course," Ally shrugged. "I thought that was obvious from my delight at having got it?"

"Ally, you _do _realise what this will entail, right?" I asked, unsure. "I mean … you'll have to move to _Spain_. What about your family here? Hell, what about _Gerald_? What did he even say about all this?"

"Oh," Ally shrugged. "I, er … sort of didn't tell him."

I smacked my forehead with both my hands. "Oh, Ally."

"I did something wrong." It wasn't a question.

"You applied for a job out of the country and didn't tell your boyfriend, _yeah_, you did something wrong," I said, not knowing any other way to tell her without sugar-coating it to the point of lying. Ally simply grimaced.

"I _did_ talk to him about applying out of the country," she said, weakly. "I said we should both do it, but I don't think he realised how serious I was. I couldn't get time off for the interview, so in the end, a Healer came up here. His English was rather bad, but apparently I was a good enough candidate to warrant the trip."

"Ally," I tried to reason with her. "I'm not saying that this isn't a great opportunity. Hell, it's a bloody brilliant opportunity! But you _need_ to talk to Gerald about it and trust me, it's not going to be pretty when you do. He's going to be mad."

"He's been mad at me before."

"Not like this," I sighed. "Shit, Ally, _why _didn't you tell him?"

"Because he didn't seem interested," Ally told me, trying to shrug it off, but I could tell that at the heart of this matter, she was worried. "My career is very important to me, Rose, and for years, it was the _only_ thing in my life worth my attention. Honestly … I'm still trying to figure out the whole 'relationship' thing," She smiled faintly. "I have _no_ idea how to be a girlfriend. None at all. Every day, I'm afraid of doing something stupid and screwing it up. I mean, god, I love Gerald so much to the point where it's actually scaring me!"

"So, essentially, you're running away?"

"No!" Ally cried. Then, she seemed to consider this and added, "… um, maybe …"

I would say that I couldn't believe this, but then, this was exactly the only way things would have gone with Gerald and Ally. Their love story was almost as complicated as mine! After all the shit they had been through, though, I was not going to sit by and let them throw it away. Sure, Ally screwed up, but she knew it and she did it _because_ she was simply Ally. If Gerald didn't understand that, there was no hope for them, and like _hell _would there be no hope.

"Ally, I promise that if you just talk to Gerald, things will work out," I told my friend, squeezing her shoulder. "Hell, I think I've spent my entire lunch break talking out relationship dramas!"

"Anything I should be worried about?"

"Oh, just a new twist to the Scorpius Debacle, but I think I'll spare you for now," I grinned. Looking her in the eye, I said, "Ally, you're an amazing friend and I swear, I wouldn't have gotten through this training without you. Whatever you decide, know that if you _do_ go to Spain, I will miss you like hell."

"Thank you, Rosie," Ally told me, hiding behind her hair again. "I will miss you, too."

This time, _I_ hugged her, though admittedly my grip wasn't any less tighter than Ally's.

* * *

After the wonderful emotional lunch that had become pretty much my day at work, I just needed to get away for a bit. Since Bea and Al had been in the middle of a screaming match down the phone to Queen Godzilla, I had taken one step into the flat, spun on my heel and walked straight back out again. After wandering the hallways, I had somehow ended up out on the second floor balcony, right at the end of the hallway.

I always loved the balcony. It had that air of being apart from our crazy homes, a little pocket world that stuck out from all the main drama. From here, I could just forget my life for the moment and watch the world go by.

Leaning against the wall, I looked out over the busy London street below, simply watching all that was happening. There was a Muggle magician performing in the light of one of the street lamps, who made a woman's hat disappear. I grinned when I saw it secretly behind his back. One bloke was too busy staring at his mobile phone that he walked straight into someone else, causing an argument. A woman with a briefcase hurried along the footpath, clearly hoping to get home soon. A young couple ran through the street, holding hands and giggling. Perhaps they had just gone out to dinner and ran out on paying the bill. I watched as they paused at the magician's street lamp, ignoring the crowd and giggling together. I wished them all the luck in the world.

"Rose? What're you doing out here?"

I span, my insides suddenly freezing. Scorpius was standing in the doorway to the balcony, hands in his pockets and looking at me curiously.

"Nothing!" I said at once. "Holy – um – oh, my god, I think I hear Bea yelling for me! I'd better go–"

"Whoa, stop!" Scorpius managed to grab my arm as I made to push straight past him and to scarper back down to my flat. "No way, you're not running away this time–"

"Yes, I am, I like to think I'm rather good at it!" I complained, tugging. "Let me go!"

"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on!" Scorpius insisted, dragging me back onto the balcony. When the hell had my pocket world been ripped away from me?! He let me wrench my arm out of his grip, only he just moved to block the direct way to the door. I chanced a glance behind me; I'm only one storey up, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt _that _much …

"_Rose_," Scorpius insisted and I turned back to him reluctantly. "Talk to me! Something is _wrong_, I can tell, I know you …"

"Look, Scorpius, I can't talk about this now," I pleaded, weakly. "Can't you just wait until the wedding's over–?"

"Oh, no," he said, pointing a finger at me. "See, I know how your mind works, you _say_ you will talk later, but later never comes! I want to know what your problem is!"

"_My_ problem?" I said, despite myself. "This isn't about me!"

"The hell it isn't, you've been avoiding me all week–"

"Scorpius, I KNOW, ok?!" I suddenly yelled. "I know about you and Sophie!"

There was utter silence at that. Scorpius just stared. Nothing could be heard except for the traffic and the awed cheers and applause for the street magician. I was beginning to wonder whether I could somehow convince Healer Williams to fund a new Brain-Transplant Department at work, because I clearly needed a new one. What is with the random mind-splurges today?

"I …" Scorpius wasn't looking quite so pissed off anymore. Now, he was looking shaken, almost like he'd been hit in the gut with a rock. "You … how …?"

"I saw Sophie today," I admitted. "But I overheard you two fighting at St Mungo's. I heard everything."

His eyes widened at that. "… when you say _everything_–?" he began, weakly.

"I mean _everything_." I let _that_ sink in for him.

For another while, Scorpius didn't say anything. It was a good thing too, considering I didn't know what I wanted him to say. Then, he said in a croaky voice, "Rose … I've screwed up so much already … I don't want to do that anymore …"

"Then say the right thing."

"I don't know what the right thing is," he answered.

"How about this," I started, the words I needed to hear just suddenly coming to me. "Rose, I'm an _idiot_. I jumped into a new relationship two months after breaking up with you and hurt you in the process. It was stupid and wrong of me and I'm through being stupid."

"Rose, _I'm a bloody idiot_," Scorpius suddenly said, face blazing. "I flipping leapt headlong into a new relationship two months after breaking up with you and I didn't just hurt you, I screwed up _everything_. I said _horrible_ things about you, trying to prove that I didn't care about you, and it was _so_ stupid of me, I had no right at all. It was _so_ wrong and I _swear _I'm through being stupid."

Oh, Scorpius.

Heart aching, I added, "Now, Rose, I–"

"Y'know what, Rose? I can take it from here," Scorpius cut over me. He stepped forward. "I know that your feelings towards me are probably all over the place. I wouldn't blame you if you hated me. But I have to tell you, _I love you_," His face was deadly serious and I swear, I nearly had a heart-attack; I mean, hell, I knew that already, but I didn't expect him to bloody well _say _it!

"I first fell in love with you when I was thirteen and I swear, I kept falling a little bit more every day since. It hasn't stopped. That's _never _stopped. But that makes it worse, I suppose," He rubbed his eyes with a hand while I was still struck dumb. "I had no right to drag Sophie into this when I was clearly still in love with you. We could have sorted this _months_ ago if I hadn't been _so damn stupid_.

"But I know that you don't need me storming back in and complicating your life again," Scorpius ploughed on. "I can't keep hurting the people I care about. So I'm walking away. I'm leaving you alone. You don't have to worry anymore."

Even though I knew that, even though I had had all day to stew over it and think it through, I still couldn't believe it. He was actually going to _do_ this? He _loved_ me, had loved me all this time, and he was _still_ going to walk away, because he didn't want to hurt me anymore? It was something I never expected him to do. I had thought the first moment we were alone, he would try and convince me to get back together, hence the reason I had been avoiding him the past week; I just didn't know if I could handle that.

This was … the old Scorpius. The Scorpius I had grown to know since we were eleven. The Scorpius that bickered and teased, the Scorpius was cocky and arrogant, but the Scorpius I knew could be loyal and _never_ think of himself before others. The Scorpius I had lost.

The Scorpius who had somehow come back.

"So … that's it," Scorpius finished, giving me a faint grin. "I love you, and that's the last time you'll hear it, I swear."

Conclusion to Scorpius's confession and other unbelievable things:

-After his words, I'd had _no_ idea what to say. I think I was partly in shock. Scorpius had moved to look out over the balcony, much like I had done before he'd come up here and turned my world upside down.

-Without even thinking about it, I had moved to his side and joined him.

-We stayed together, looking out over the magician's applause and the bright city lights without speaking, because really, there was nothing left to say.

Rose: 23, Scorpius: 20.

(Scorpius completely deserves that point).

* * *

A/N: I know, I know, I said 'The Hot One' was next, but I forgot about this chapter; this time I _really _promise 'The Hot One' is next. Scorpius had to prove that he was done hurting Rose and now, they are both in a place where they are ready for each other again. Buuuuut, of course, I'm not making it easy!

We're sort of onto the final leg of the story now: the countdown to Al and Bea's wedding, and all that happens in between. There's still a few chapters to go where I can promise some Rose/Scorpius action/dramadrama and a stag/hens night.

I just want to take the time here to say THANK YOU. You have had to put up with so much from me and this story. Hell, I just can't seem to find it in me to make things easy, so I know that this has been one hell of a story to truck along with. But you have all been SO supportive so far and have made it through DoucheBag!Scorpius and BloodyClueless!Rose. I hope the end will be easier. (Er, never mind, it probably won't. Sorry about that).

Thank you so much again! Please keep telling me what you think, you guys never cease to amaze me with your comments. Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	29. The Hot One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, heat-waves, ugly dresses or steamy moments.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 28: The Hot One.

"Oh my LORD, it's hot!" I cried out, two days before Al and Bea's wedding. I had woken up at about seven in the morning, but despite the fact that I didn't have work today, I couldn't possibly go back to sleep; it was so bloody hot that my skin had stuck to my sheets and I thrashed, trying to get out of the boiling prison.

And _yes_, it was as gross as it sounds.

It had been almost a week since the confession on the balcony; a week that had flashed by so quickly that I was certain someone must have knocked me unconscious. I didn't know where all my time had gone, only that it had disappeared and now, it was July and we were facing the most life-threatening, most terrifying event of all time!

Yes, ok, it was just a wedding. But _hell_, it involved the Bowmen's and Potter's, all in the same place! I think it was inevitable to anticipate some sort of disaster.

I finally managed to roll myself out of bed, picking at my soaked pajama shirt with disgust. I had no bloody idea why it was so hot; sure, it was summer, but this was _London_, one of the few places in the world where it can be the middle of July and still piss itself down with rain. A low moan coming from the direction of the kitchen made me pause in my efforts to find something to change into; it sounded strangled and _hot _and I felt my eyes widen when I heard it again.

Did I really want to find out what the hell was happening in my kitchen? Yes, yes I did.

"Bea, what are you – um … doing …?" I let my voice trail off as a scene I didn't expect came to my eyes. I had been bracing myself for walking in on some raunchy action, but instead, I was greeted with the sight of Bea lying spread-eagled on the kitchen floor and moaning in satisfaction.

"Rosie!" she called happily when she noticed me. "Come join me!"

"Seriously, what the hell're you doing?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Besides forgetting to put on pants … or any other clothes for that matter," I added, since Bea was wearing nothing but her bra and knickers, fanning herself vaguely with an old copy of _Witch Weekly_.

"This was about as far as I got," Bea told me. "It's nice and cold down here, Rosie! Come join, it's too bloody hot for clothes."

I snorted, joining her on the blissfully cold floor. "Don't let Al hear you say that," I said. "Or he might not wait till after the wedding. Actually, scrap that, he might not wait for the wedding at all!"

"It was his bloody idea not to have sex for the last few weeks," Bea rolled his eyes. "If he's going to enforce it, hell he's going to live by it! See if he gets _any_ on Saturday …" Bea grumbled under her breath.

That had been another feature of the past week leading up to the wedding. About a month ago, Al had proudly decided that they were not going to be 'intimate' (his word, not mine) until the night of their wedding, so they would better appreciate being together as a married couple. What he hadn't counted on, however, was how pissed off his fiancée was going to get and how frustrated he was going to be when, according to him, all Bea did was 'prance around in front of him, flashing a bit of boob'. They had been more or less fine up until now … but this last week had been nothing but a war between them, with Al trying to hold on desperately to his idea and Bea simply trying to get into his pants. It was absolutely ridiculous and the tension wasn't just affecting them anymore.

"… holy shit, are they for real?" James had said a few days ago at dinner, staring at Bea purposefully leaning over the table to flash Al a look down her top.

"That girl had better watch out or _I_ might just go for her!" Libby had added, fanning herself.

And don't get me started on myself; let's just say no one in our flat had to worry about using up all the hot water in the shower anymore.

"You've only got two more days to go, you can do this!" I encouraged my best friend, practically ripping my pajama shorts off, my shirt having been peeled away before I even entered the kitchen. That was the pro of living with your best friend of twelve years; little things like practically stripping in front of each other and discussing the sex lives of various significant others was basically normal. Neither of us battered an eye at the thought of wandering around half-naked in front of each other.

"Oh, god …" Bea moaned, fanning herself even more vigorously. "And we've got another bloody dress fitting today! Mum wants to check that everything's _perfect_ before we pick it up …"

"Didn't we go last week?"

"Your point?" Bea rolled her eyes at me. "This is Mum we're talking about. Every time she talks to me now, her voice goes all high-pitched and squeaky. I don't even understand what she's saying anymore!"

"Two more days, Bea! We can get through this! _Holy shit_, is it honestly that hot in here?!" I yelped. I had glanced up at the fridge next to us and caught sight of the dorky fridge magnet Lily had bought us from Hawaii. The current temperature was practically off the scale. To compensate, I directed a freezing charm at the fridge. The thing normally ran off a bunch of cooling and freezing charms, rather than electricity, and needed a top up whenever the magic wore off. I had only topped it off last week, but as soon as I bumped it up, I could almost feel the waft of ice flow over me. "Ah, that's better …"

"Keep doing that and you're going to explode our fridge," Bea pointed out.

"That would be amazing …" My fantasy about living in Antarctica was short-lived, however. There was much more on my mind than the blistering weather. Leaning back on my hands, I glanced at Bea still lying on the floor, my thoughts a million miles away; or I suppose, more accurately, they were two flats down.

This past week had another new feature; Scorpius Malfoy. Considering his confession, I had figured that he would retreat, hide away and only speak to me when forced, but I had been wrong. He did hold back a bit more than he normally would, but he still spoke to me, he still bickered and laughed; it was like how we used to be. It was maddening because I loved it and now every time I saw him, my heart wreaked havoc against my body. We were basically as close as we had been before this entire fiasco had ever started, possibly even more so, and that's what freaked me out the most.

And then there was Al and Bea's ridiculous teasing and it was all just yet another thing Scorpius and I had placed a bet on.

* * *

(_Four days ago_)

_"What the hell is up with those two?" Scorpius asked me, staring at the debacle in the kitchen. Having only been on the balcony the day before, I had freaked the moment Bea had mentioned that both boys were coming around for dinner, but surprisingly, it hadn't been awkward. In fact, Scorpius was being … respectful. He was giving me space, that much was clear from the way he always stayed at least two feet away and never brought up any topic that was heavier in baggage than the wedding, but he had greeted me with a jab at my hair and he had teased me all night. It was crazy and just a little bit frightening, but I had soon realised that there was no way I could possibly go back to when we weren't speaking. _

_I _needed_ Scorpius in my life and that kind of scared the hell out of me. _

_We were standing in the entrance to the kitchen, leaning on opposite sides of the doorframe. Al and Bea were supposed to be checking on the food … but somehow, they had taken to Bea getting Al to taste test for her, feeding him random pieces from our stir-fry and also eating pieces herself in front of him, Al staring at her mouth and lingering each time she kissed him between each taste. _

_"It's like watching a dirty film," Scorpius commented. _

_I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, but decided it would be safer to stay away from that comment. "Bea was telling me last night that she was getting sick of no sex. It's kind of a turn-on to just watch them." _

_"I wouldn't be surprised if clothes started coming off right in front of us," Scorpius snorted. _

_"Over our food?" I scoffed. "No way! Even Bea's got morals–" _

_Unfortunately at that point, Bea purposefully spilt sauce down Al's front, sticking her hands under his shirt and now trying to convince him to take it off. The words left my throat as we just watched Al refuse and subsequently get chased around the kitchen. _

_"… five Galleons says they cave," Scorpius said at once. _

_I scoffed. "Al's got guts; there's no way he's giving in!" I countered and Scorpius turned to me with a gleam in his eye. It shot down right to my toes. "Make it ten and you've got a deal." _

_"Deal!" Scorpius said, holding out a hand and I shook it before I could even think about whether that was a good idea. It didn't matter. Our hands were touching and that feeling exploded out of my chest. It felt like pure energy was flowing straight through us from where our hands touched and with my heart beating wildly, it was only Al accidently tripping and slamming hard into the pantry that caused us to jump and pull apart. Figuring it was probably safer for all of us tonight if we intervened, Scorpius and I had quickly forced Al and Bea apart._

* * *

What with the insane drama in our lives at the moment, I seriously don't know what's wrong with us.

So it was kind of hard to deny it now; I _loved_ him. Oh, my _god_, I was in love with him, so much that it physically hurt to see him leave for another day and I wanted nothing more than to just yank him to me and never let go. But was I ready to leap back in, headfirst? I had no idea. And then there was Sophie, awesome and wonderful Sophie, who didn't deserve any of this.

To say the last week had been a bit emotional was a rather large understatement.

"God, Bea, how are we going to survive this next week?" I asked my best friend.

Bea just lifted her head to stare at me. "_We_?" she asked, sounding indignant. "What is this 'we' you speak of?! I've got a fiancé who won't even look me in the eye, lest I jump him, but you've got a perfectly good Scorpius you could be having crazy sex with and you're not taking it!"

"_Bea_," I said hastily, in case she decided to put more visuals into my head; sexually-frustrated-Bea had so far been a delightfully graphic person. "I've already told you about this. I'm not ready. I _can't_ be. I–"

"–love him," Bea cut in, letting her head flop back down to the floor and I leaned on my hand, looking at her. "Only wish he never had to leave every night; I see the look on your face when he walks out that door, Rose Weasley. He told you he was pulling away and it's _killing_ you!"

"Ok, yes, it's maddening!" I admitted, avoiding Bea's obvious _I told you so _look. I felt a flush creeping up my neck, so I directed another freezing charm at the fridge; the subsequent rush of cold sent us both moaning with satisfaction. "Look, I don't blame him for pulling away; he doesn't want to hurt me anymore and I appreciate it. It's just what Scorpius would do; the Scorpius I fell in love with. But even if we were to get back together tomorrow, there's still so much that we haven't talked about; the things that broke us up in the first place. Not talking about things that are important, my work …"

"Rosie," Bea turned her head so she could keep looking at me. "You will need to talk about those things, don't get me wrong. But answer me: would it be worth it? Would you be willing to risk another argument, ending it all for good, just for a chance at having it all back?"

I thought. Two weeks ago, I would have said no. One week ago, I'd had no idea. But a lot had happened since then and now, I knew.

"Yes," I told her. "Yes – of course it would be _worth_ it. But I'm terrified of screwing it up again! And what about Sophie?"

"Ok, Rosie, let me tell you something about that girl," Bea said, actually sitting up; hell, she must be serious. "You are _never_ going to meet someone as selfless and kind as Sophie. She personally told you that she didn't want you to sit in misery because of her! She _wants_ you to be happy. I'm sure she appreciates you not wanting to go there for her sake, but she's a big girl; she knows it's been you two the entire time and she's your friend, for god's sake, she _understands_!"

I knew she was right, though I didn't want to admit it. So I stayed quiet and Bea just continued. "As for screwing it up … Rosie, you've learnt from all this, haven't you?"

"Communication is key?"

"_Exactly_," Bea told me. "You're _not_ going to screw up this time, because you've learnt what you need to do to fix this and any other fight you have in the future. You've _both_ learnt from this. You know what it would be like to be apart now and you're not going to let it happen again, are you?"

"… no," I said, quietly.

"_So go for it_!" Bea cried. "If _I_ can't have sex, at least let me live vicariously through you!"

"Hell – Bea – don't say things like _that_," I said, unable to stop the blush this time. "God, I can't wait until you're married!"

"Trust me, Rosie, me either–"

"Hellooo–! ARGHH!"

Of course, my cousin decided to pick _that_ particular moment to come barging straight into our flat and as it turns out, James Potter wasn't anywhere near as nonchalant about half-nakedness as Bea and I. He had waltzed into the kitchen, warbling out a greeting before cutting himself off in a strangled yell, seeing as we were still lounging on the kitchen floor in our underwear. Bea looked like she wanted to shriek at him, but soon decided she couldn't be bothered and flopped over onto her stomach instead.

"Bloody hell!" James cried, flinging an arm over his eyes. "Seriously! Do you two WANT to scar me for life?!"

I just rolled my eyes, noticing that the freezer had gone down again. I didn't even look up from placing yet another charm on it, the frost now spilling over and out onto the floor. "Don't want to be scarred? Don't come barging into other people's homes!" I told him.

"Yes, James, people don't really like that," Bea added.

"And yet, you haven't locked that front door for like, five years …" James muttered under his breath. We chose to ignore that.

Glancing up from the freezer and at my cousin, I noticed that James was actually wearing clothes himself for a change, as he sat down at our table, still hiding his eyes. Normally, when the weather got this hot, he would parade around his house in his boxers, Auntie Ginny occasionally coming round to scream at him to at least put a shirt on. Now, however, he was wearing not just a shirt, but shorts, too!

"James … are you wearing clothes?"

"Oh, yeah," James rolled his eyes. "Lib wouldn't let me out of the flat unless I was decent. I have a feeling that me wandering around naked was why Casey finally moved out."

"Who's that? Her latest ex-flat mate?" I asked.

"Yeah," James snorted. "Decided she wasn't going to take it anymore. That kind of leads into my news and why I'm over here, actually! Though, I didn't exactly count on the free strip show …" he added. He was peering through his fingers now at us and I just laughed as I directed another charm at the freezer, sending a waft of cold everywhere.

"Do we even _want_ to know what you've done now?" Bea asked.

"I daresay you'll be proud of me!" James said. With a throw of his arms into the air, he cried, "Libby and I are moving in together!"

"What?!" Bea sat up again in amazement as I grinned. "You're MOVING IN?"

"Oh my god, James!" I cried, leaping up to throw my arms around my cousin. "My baby's growing up!"

"Push off, Rosie," James muttered, but when I sank back to the cool floor, he was smiling. And not just that mischievous, _I'm about to set something on fire_ smile; it was the smile that said he was honestly and truly happy. "Yeah, after Casey left, Libby started talking about having to find another flat mate and, well, I'm there all the time anyway … so I just mentioned it and she bloody leapt at the idea!"

"I don't believe this!" I said, staring. "Haven't you only been together for, what? Four months?"

"Yeah," James shrugged. "But I figured that, hey, life's short, and Libby somehow managed to make me fall in love with her. _Me_! Something like this, I'm hanging onto it like the giant squid."

"So no more crazy flat mates?" Bea asked.

"There's Pablo who visits from time to time and there's still that bloke who stalks her, but apart from that, yeah!" James said, happily.

I honestly never thought I would see this. Everything was going crazy! My best friends were about to get married, James was actually in a serious relationship and I …

… I've got _something_, though the thought of that something was terrifying. Moving on, now.

"I'm so proud of you, James," I said truthfully, sending more ice creeping across the kitchen floor. Bea slapped at my wand hand, but I just waved her off. "Really. Who knows, maybe you'll be next down the aisle?"

"Good god, don't even joke!" James said at once and Bea and I both snorted with laughter. Still James, under all that. "We've only _just_ moved in together, don't you two go putting ideas into her head! She's excited enough as it is about the hens night! That's tomorrow, right?"

"Night before the wedding, I've got it all sorted!" I said. "It would have been better if it was last week or something, so we're not all going out on a bender hours before the day, but like hell was I getting my head bitten off again by Queen Godzilla. She insisted that it was traditional to have it the night before the wedding. She also invited herself, so we have to put up with her flicking her hair and talking about how brilliant she is all night, but my idea is that we all get so bloody plastered, we completely forget who she is! There, problem solved."

"And nothing at all will go wrong," James said. "Is my darling sister coming back for the wedding, then?"

"When she came here those few weeks ago, she said she would travel back in time," I nodded.

I really couldn't wait for Lily Potter to get her arse back here. God knows what she would have to say in regards to the Scorpius Debacle. I hadn't sent her a letter explaining all this, since I knew that she was coming back soon, so I was forced to make do with the advice I could get; what with that advice being my own confused self and Bea yelling at me to screw it (almost literally) and just get on with it, it was a miracle that I hadn't had an emotional breakdown!

"… can't flipping wait!" James was saying cheerfully. Bea was sitting up on the floor, frowning in the direction of the fridge. The frost was seeping out a bit stronger now. "Seriously, I know my brother can be a bit of a stick in the mud, but if Scorpius is the one organising the stag night, I just know it's going to be a blast! Is that ice?" he added, noticing frost creeping up his legs.

"Erm …" I said.

"_Rosie_!" Bea cried as the freezer finally gave out and _exploded_.

Oops. At least we're not hot anymore?

* * *

It's bloody hot at Al's flat, too. What a surprise.

"Seriously, why do none of these flats have air conditioning?!" I complained, slumping over my cousin's kitchen table. I had of course accidentally turned our flat into a winter wonderland, but far from being a soothing get away from the boiling weather, the ice had just melted and caused a mini flood. James was currently over there, trying to dry up all the water before he had to jet off to work. Bea had her last shift at work today until she got back from her honeymoon and she seemed reluctant to leave me by myself at the boys' flat.

"Probably so idiots like you don't blow them up!" Bea answered me, hands on hips. Most unfortunately, Bea had to dress for work and I'd had to make myself somewhat decent for the trip down the corridor. I had thrown on the shortest pair of shorts I could find and the thinnest, lightest singlet top stuffed at the back of my wardrobe. Thank _god_ neither of the boys were home. They might have had an aneurism if they had seen us earlier.

"I swear, I didn't mean to!" I assured her.

"Look, I have to go to work now," Bea said. "Can I just trust you to stay here and not destroy anything? Al should be home soon from food shopping, so don't get any ideas …"

"I promise, I won't go anywhere near the freezer!" I said, hastily pulling my rapidly frizzing hair away from my face and up into an extremely messy bun. "Cooling charms I can't promise, though."

"That's good enough, I suppose. Hopefully when I get back, our flat won't be a mini lake!"

"Ah, James is on it," I shrugged. "He must seriously be excited about Libby and the stag do if he's willing to clean up my mess …"

"I'm trying not to think about it," Bea told me, grabbing her bag and heading for the door. "So long as I never find out what happens, I'll be fine. See you after work for the dress fitting! Love you, Rosie!"

"Love you, too!" I called after her. The second the door slammed shut, I hastily stripped off my singlet with a sigh of satisfaction. It was far too bloody hot in here. I used my singlet to wipe my forehead as I warily ambled into the kitchen to search for _anything_ cold.

Now here was a situation that I hadn't been in for a while; wandering half-naked through the boys' flat, trying to find something to eat. The amount of times I had stayed over and gotten hungry in the middle of the night was enormous. I always vividly remembered a moment a couple of years ago when I had been wearing nothing but one of Scorpius's t-shirts and Al had walked in looking for a snack to see me trying to reach up for the biscuits. Naturally, his mind had been a bit scarred.

A few months ago, that memory would have simply been painful. A week ago, it would have been downright confusing. Now … it made me smile, especially if I remembered what had happened after Al's strangled yell had woken Scorpius up and I had made it back to his room. In my haste to run away, I had tripped over one of my shoes and had practically fallen on top of Scorpius, but he had just laughed, pulling me back under his covers, quickly stripping his shirt off me …

I shook my head. God, Rosie, thinking about that is _not _going to help.

I was just rummaging through the cupboards five minutes later when, suddenly, a very familiar voice behind me yelled,

"Holy shit!"

I leapt a mile and spun around, my forgotten singlet falling to the floor and a bag of crisps in my hand. "I'm sorry!" I cried. "But you eat all our food all the time–! _Oh_ …" I nearly dropped the bag of crisps. "Er, you're not Al …"

Of course it was Scorpius standing there, his bag still swinging off his shoulder and gaping with his mouth wide open. I felt my neck go steadily red as he continued to stare. I was suddenly painfully aware that all I wore was my bra and a pair of tiny shorts.

"R-Rose?" Scorpius practically choked out.

"Er … Scorpius," I said, not really sure what else I was supposed to be saying.

Scorpius slowly walked over to the kitchen table before dumping his bag on it. He hadn't taken his eyes off me since he yelled out; it was hotter than ever and now, it was getting rather awkward. "Er …" he began, still looking like someone had hit him over the head. "Why … why're you in my flat? With … hardly any clothes on?"

"Because I blew up the freezer in my own flat and it's bloody hot?"

Scorpius blinked once and looked away for the first time. Finally, I took a non-strangled breath. I didn't know what to say. I would normally just scarper, but somehow, having the knowledge that he still loved me kept me rooted on the spot. What the hell are you hoping for here, Rose? For him to yell at you? To kiss you …?

"Look, I didn't mean to!" I found myself blurting out, but Scorpius ignored me, now shuffling to the fridge, staring at the ground.

"Er, ok …" he muttered, glancing inside.

I just gave him a confused expression that he didn't see since he was currently rooting through the different shelves. "Oi," I said eventually, since Scorpius wouldn't usually take that lying down; he would grin and tease back. Now, however, he was still not even looking at me. "That was an argument. Why didn't you fight back?"

"_Rose_," Scorpius sighed into the fridge. "Look, now is really not the time–"

"The hell it isn't, it's _always_ the right time to argue with me!" I said, exasperated now. "We do it constantly! I know we've had our … um, _issues_, in the past but fighting is just simply _us,_ Scorpius."

"Has it ever occurred to you that fighting all the time is just a _bit_ insane?"

"Yes," I said at once. "That's occurred to me several times over roughly twelve years."

Scorpius just rolled his eyes, or at least I assume he did, since I still couldn't see his face. He slammed the fridge door shut without even taking any food out. "For god's sake, Rose, you _know_ why arguing with you now would be a disastrous idea!" he said.

I stared. He couldn't possibly mean how we tended to treat arguing like flirting … right?

"Because you'd lose, and you know it," I eventually decided that joking was the safer option, lest I rip his head off. The charged air was really not doing well for my mental health.

"You keep telling yourself that."

"I will; what the hell are you even _doing_ here, anyway?" I added. "Why aren't you at work and aren't you _boiling _in that jumper?"

"What?" Scorpius walked over to the bench on the opposite side of the kitchen. He looked agitated, flustered even. "No, no, I'm fine. Got sent home from work, finished my report early …" I noticed him glance at me slightly from the corner of his eye and I swear his face went red … but he couldn't be blushing. There was no way; Scorpius didn't _do _blushing. It was probably just a hot flush, considering he was still wearing his woollen jumper.

"Oh, for god's sake, would you just _look_ at me?" I said, frustrated. I leaned down to the kitchen floor to pick up my singlet. "I'll even put my top back on if it's freaking you out–"

"No!" Scorpius suddenly said and I froze, hand outstretched. _What_? "I mean …" He was looking at me now, wincing. "Yes, you can put your – I mean – I can't look at – you're – um – blimey …" He yanked at his jumper absently. "It's bloody hot in here …"

"It's because you're still wearing a sheep!" I told him, straightening up. It was actually becoming rather amusing watching him. He seemed to be having some sort of internal struggle, wrestling with the idea of taking his jumper off. "Seriously, Scorpius, you're going to pass out from heat exhaustion and I swear, I'm _not _performing Muggle CPR on you–"

"No, no!" Scorpius suddenly cut over me. "It's fine! I'm fine, it's not that hot, though it is, Merlin it's hot, I'd better, I mean, maybe I should–? No! No, no, I'm fine; it's not _that _hot–"

"Scorpius!" I cut over him and thankfully, he shut up. "Are you … all right? You're _rambling_ … you _never_ ramble …" I took a step forward but that only made Scorpius stumble back about three steps, crashing into the kitchen bench.

"No, no, no, you just stay over there!" he said, holding a hand out. "I need to make my sandwich now, but you stay there!" He turned to the bench behind him, only to look surprised when there was nothing there.

When he glanced back, he saw me pointing out the fridge. "Remember this?" I asked. "You were searching inside for a million years but forgot to actually take some food out?"

"Ah!" Scorpius said, grinning half-heartedly as he hastily made his way back over to the fridge, taking care to skirt around me. "Right, food, of course!"

I watched him for a few seconds as he opened the fridge door once again. His entire face seemed to be red now and he also seemed very determined not to look at me. Hell, it was bloody clear where his mind was heading; I mean, it was a million degrees and he was _still _wearing his jumper! However, after his speech on the balcony, I knew that there was no way he was going to do a thing about it; this was up to me.

Oh, _hell_.

"Scorpius, you _sure_ you're alright?" I asked when it became clear that he wasn't concentrating on the food at all.

He glanced around and accidentally, his eyes actually properly locked with mine for the first time since he'd walked into the flat. His expression turned into something almost primeval, like I had somehow become a piece of steak and he was starving. It was uncomfortable and blinding and thrilling and when his eyes glanced down, it made me bloody _shiver. _

I could _not _handle this.

"Ro – Rose?"

"Y'know what? Screw it."

I suddenly strode over, sure that my eyes were mirroring the look in his; it was a look that I hadn't seen for several months now. My brain must just be very groggy and slow in hot weather, because it took me several seconds for my mind to catch up with my actions and by the time I figured out what I was doing, I had already seized him by the waist and shoved him back against the kitchen counter. However my lips had barely touched his when –

"Hey, Rosie, the flat's dry now! You can–! Oh, hey!"

James had cut himself off when he noticed who else was there, again prancing straight into the flat without knocking. Then, he noticed our positions and our extremely panicked faces and added, "Oh … _hey_ …" with raised eyebrows.

We leapt apart immediately, Scorpius looking disbelieving. Rambling something about Al and sandwiches, he tore out of the kitchen and scrambled for his bedroom in six seconds flat. As a result, I was left leaning against the kitchen bench, holding onto it for support, half-naked and _very_ hot.

"What the bloody hell was _that_ about?" James asked.

"I … gah …" was all I could manage to say.

* * *

I spent the better part of my day taking extremely cold showers and reading various text books with none of the words going in. Y'know, real productive stuff. It was just too hot to _do_ anything and it didn't help that my mind was forever going back to that kitchen; what the hell had I been _thinking_? Thankfully, Libby turned up in the afternoon so we could head to Diagon Alley together for the dress fitting. Libby was one of Bea's bridesmaids, along with myself as the Maid of Honour and most unfortunately, Queen Godzilla as the other bridesmaid; she had packed a temper tantrum when Bea said she didn't want her sister anywhere near the ceremony and had promptly added herself to the wedding party.

"Queen Godzilla had better have made that note to Victoire that my dress's neckline needed taking up," Libby was saying determinedly as we quickly crossed the road for the Leaky Cauldron. The both of us were in shorts and a t-shirt, something rather amazing in the middle of London. This heat-wave was just becoming too much. "Seriously, last time I tried it on, my boobs were hanging out! I'm supposed to be a bridesmaid, not a slapper!"

"I'm sure Victoire did her best," I laughed, opening the door to the pub for her.

"Oh, it's not Victoire I'm worried about," Libby told me. "It's if bloody Queen Godzilla actually told her to do it! I swear, that girl can_not_ be actually related to Bea."

We were most unfortunately subjected to the whole Bowmen-treatment once Libby and I showed up at Victoire's fancy shop. First of all, we were apparently 'forty three seconds late! That's two whole hours in wedding-time!' and Bea looked like she was about to kill something.

"Vic, you've been keeping them under control, right?" I muttered to my eldest cousin. Victoire just gave me a look as if to say, _ha, funny, Rose!_

"I can't believe that's Bea's family!" Victoire told me, swishing her gorgeous blond hair behind her shoulders, making Queen Godzilla glare at her with jealousy.

"Yeah, that's sort of been the general assumption …"

Victoire's robe-shop in Diagon Alley was one of those cute little shops that you simply have to go in to look around and try on everything, but could never actually buy something unless it was a special occasion. Victoire always was a rather extravagant girl, which made her perfect for weddings. She had an entire area at the back of the shop dedicated to what seemed like millions of dresses. Even then, if there wasn't something you liked, Victoire could easily make it for you. That had been what the Bowmen's insisted on; after trawling through the racks, deeming every single dress not worthy of being worn by her baby, Queen Godzilla came roaring in with her own design.

When Bea stomped out of the dressing room wearing it, Libby and I seriously just burst into hysterical laughter.

She folded her arms in a huff, having to blow the ruffles out of her face. "I'm honestly going to snap your necks," she glared.

"Oh, man!" Libby cried, wiping at her face. "It just gets funnier every time I see it!"

"I take back what I said last time! You look like a rainbow-unicorn threw up on you!" I snorted.

"It's, er," Victoire dithered, trying to find something nice to say about the monstrosity of a dress. She poked the long sleeves with her wand. "If you wanted to make some adjustments, I'd seriously be more than happy to–"

"No, no, it's perfect!" Queen Godzilla squealed, happily. She ran forward, shoving Victoire out of the way to squeeze Bea's hands. "My baby, you look so beautiful!"

"I look like a bloody explosion in a haberdashery shop!" Bea cried, tugging her hands back. "Seriously, Annie, did you honestly think I would _like_ this?!"

"Don't be silly, it's wonderful!" Queen Godzilla said dismissively, as if her sister's pain was nothing compared to the perfect wedding. "It will match the head-pieces for the peacocks perfectly!"

"And, of course, the bridesmaids will look gorgeous next to you!" Mrs Bowmen said, gleefully.

Libby and I exchanged horrified looks. "Oh, no …" Libby muttered.

"Look, we tried them on last week, we're just picking them up now, surely we don't have to–?"

"Oh, we can't trust you not to have gained a few pounds since then," Queen Godzilla told me and I swear I growled. "Go on! Put them on! _Now_."

Bea managed to get her payback when we were forced to be seen in the truly ghastly bridesmaid dresses. We'd been complaining about them for months, but we were still stuck with them. They were a bright, hot pink and contained enough ruffles, bows, lace and god knows what other crap to crash a broomstick. Libby looked like she wanted to throw up and I would honestly run through central London naked, if it meant that I didn't have to wear this anymore. Queen Godzilla was parading in front of the mirrors, staring at herself and talking about how gorgeous she looked. Meanwhile, Libby, Bea and I were slowly _dying_.

Thankfully, Victoire tried to rescue us by making some friendly suggestions. As Queen Godzilla shot down every piece of advice from the dress-maker, Bea decided that she needed a drink and left to get the wine that was usually reserved for dress-fittings. Libby and I just tried to breathe.

"I swear, I'm sweating straight through this thing!" Libby said, wafting at her face with her hand. Mrs Bowmen just gave her a disgusted look, like she had never done something as gross as sweat in her life. "… Rose?"

"Hmm?" I snapped back. My entire face had heated up and it unfortunately wasn't because of the weather. My mind had once again wandered back to this morning in Al's kitchen.

"Is everything all right?" Libby asked me, raising an eyebrow. "I mean … you're ok, right? You can tell me if you're not–"

"Nah, Lib, I'm fine!" I insisted. "It's just Al and Bea sending everyone crazy. I don't know how I live with the girl without spontaneously combusting."

"God, I know _exactly_ what you mean," Libby said, smirking. "The other night, it was torture to just be in the same room as them! I swear, when we got back home, James and I barely even made it to the sofa–"

"OK!" I cut in. "Lib, I love you, and I'm glad you're moving in together–"

"Oh, did James tell you?" Libby grinned. "I did have a moment of freaking out, but in the end, it's what we both want, right?"

"Libby, I'm honestly happy for you," I squeezed her shoulder. "But if there's one thing I _never _want to hear about, it's yours and James' sex life."

Libby shrugged. "Fair enough," she said, though she still smiling, probably still reliving the memories of that night. "But hell, at least I've got someone to let out the tension with! I can't imagine what it must be like for you."

"Yes, it's just bloody _fantastic_," I snapped.

"Ah," Libby wrinkled her eyebrows. "I'm sorry, that was a bit tactless, wasn't it? Oh, well. Seriously, what's it been like for you?"

… and back to her point. Oh, Libby. "You don't want to know," I told her. "They're both being stupid! Whether they've been together in a while or not, it won't _matter_ once they're married! So long as they love each other, which I know they do, then it'll be magical whatever way they go about it! There's no point in them holding out like this and sending everyone mad, but of course I had to make a stupid bet about it and now I've got to encourage them …"

"Don't tell me, Scorpius bet they'd cave?"

"There's something wrong with me, I swear," I said in answer. "It's probably about the most awkward thing we could place a bet on! And then there's everything else that's happened over the week and don't even get me started on this morning and–"

Libby gave me a shrewd look. "… Rosie, are you _sure_ you're ok?" she said, suspiciously.

It was one of those moments that I remembered that Libby was a Ravenclaw for a reason. That girl just _knew_ stuff.

"… no," I said.

Libby's eyes went wide. Ignoring the weird stares of the others, she cried, "Got to pee! Don't worry, Rosie'll help me get out of this thing!" before dragging me by the arm towards the bathroom behind the counter of Victoire's shop. Bea didn't even notice, knocking back her third glass of wine while Mrs Bowmen just tried to defuse the huge argument between Victoire and Queen Godzilla. Libby slammed the bathroom door behind us and it was there I finally let my mouth start pouring.

"Holy shit, Libby!" I said. "I – I wasn't even meant to be there, I accidentally blew up our freezer! Long story, but it was so hot, I just had to take my top off and he just showed up out of nowhere and–!"

"Woe, woe, _Rosie_!" Libby said, grabbing my arms as I fell back against the bathroom door heavily. "We … I mean, you _are_ talking about Scorpius, right?"

"No, the fifty year old Muggle bloke I'm having an affair with! Of _course_ I'm talking about bloody Scorpius!" I cried. "We – we were in the kitchen and suddenly I just snapped and shoved him up against the bench! Seriously, I was going to kiss him when James barged in!"

"Oh, thank god, for once his barging in did us all a favour," Libby said. If her eyes went any wider, they were seriously going to pop out of her head. She let go of my arms in disbelief. "So … you _didn't _actually kiss?"

"Not really … but I mean, we were going to!" I told her.

"Good god …" Libby said. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I … it was really hot in that flat, all right?"

"I bet it was …"

"_Libby_!" I slapped her on the arm before wiping at my forehead; I could feel the sweat mixed in with the tension. "Lib, I don't really know if this is right or not."

"Of course it isn't! Scorpius is with Sophie!"

"Oh, so you don't know about what happened," I started. Then, I realised what I said. Should I really be telling her? I hadn't told anyone about this except for Bea … but this was Libby. While admittedly crazy, I'd known Libby just as long as her and over the years, we were almost just as close. Taking her stunned silence as a go ahead, I continued, "… it was two weeks ago. Just after the Quidditch match in France. I overheard them arguing at St Mungo's … about me."

"You …" Libby eyed me, hesitantly. "You didn't _do _anything, right–?"

"No!" I told her. "No, it wasn't me, it was _Scorpius_. Sophie was becoming suspicious that he wasn't completely over it. Over me. She thought he still had feelings for me. And when she confronted him … he didn't deny it. They broke up, Lib."

"Bloody hell," Libby said, faintly.

"I know!" I cried. "But just wait, it gets better: I avoid him like the plague for a week, because I'm afraid of him trying to get back together when I wasn't ready for it, but then he tells me that I don't need to worry because he's through hurting me and dragging others into it, so he's walking away. He's giving up."

"Is he _mental_?"

"Libby," I said, giving her a look. "It _was_ fine … back then. It was what I needed to hear at the time and over the past week, things have been … good. More than good, far better than just _good_. And _now_ … Libby, I …" I hesitated slightly, but I forced myself to continue. "… I love him, Libby. I haven't said that out loud since January, but it's true now, _I love him_, and the idea that he could give up on me is driving me …"

"Nuts?"

"Completely round the twist," I agreed. "I mean, hell, Libby, what do I do?!"

"Well … you tried to kiss him," she said. "I'm going to hazard a guess here and say he's probably figured out how you feel about him."

"But he won't do anything about it," I said. "He's told me that he's not going to go after me and he's holding up to that. This is up to me."

"Then what the bloody hell are you waiting for?!" Libby cried. "Rosie, if you honestly love the bloke, then what the _hell_ is stopping you? I know you're an explosion waiting to happen most of the time, but that's what makes you brilliant together! There's no one else on this planet who would be cut out to handle you! No one else who would challenge him and call him out on his shit. _No one_, you hear me?"

"I never pegged you as a romantic, Lib," I almost laughed.

"When it comes to you and Scorpius, I'm a bloody fangirl," Libby answered.

"This is a bloody nightmare–"

Before I could finish my comment, the bathroom door was suddenly slammed into me from behind and I was pitched forward into Libby. Queen Godzilla didn't even apologise, just glared at us from the doorway. "If you two are _done_ gossiping," she hissed. "Do you think we could get back to the dress fitting?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, dress fitting?" Libby muttered. "I thought we were at a convention for bloody rainbow-unicorns."

* * *

The heat-wave continued on well into the evening, where none of us could muster up the energy to do anything except laze around, watching Muggle films. I had been hoping to just hide in my room and to think about other things, but Bea had unfortunately dragged me over to the boys' place as an excuse to tease Al. I had panicked and protested the entire way, since I knew exactly who else was going to be there, but every time I tried to slip away, Bea would grab my arm. Upon entering the doorway, I had tried to turn around, but Bea had hissed at me,

"Rose! You _have_ to stay in here!"

"C'mon, Bea, _why_?" I had asked.

"Because," Bea had said, desperately. She'd glanced over at Al, who was watching her with a similar look to the one Scorpius had given me this morning. "if you leave, then Scorpius will leave, and if you leave the two of us alone, I swear, we will _not _make it until our wedding night."

"Then why did you even come over?!"

"Because I wanted to make him suffer!" she had insisted. "Plus I … well, we haven't in a while … it's sort of killing me …"

"Oh, god, Bea–" I had complained, but because I was betting that she and Al would make it, I gave an exasperated yell. "For Merlin's sake, _fine_! But you better make it worth it!"

For the record, it had _not _been worth it. Scorpius was probably only sticking around because Al threatened him. It made for one hell of an awkward night, with the four of us sitting uncomfortably apart, Al and Scorpius on their sofa, Bea and I on the floor in front of them, leaning against the coffee table. The tension practically radiated throughout the room and I _swear, _I could feel Scorpius's gaze on the back of my head, boring into me and setting me on fire.

I concentrated hard on the film without really seeing it, in an attempt to ignore the charged atmosphere. Unfortunately, it made me oblivious to my surroundings and it wasn't until the film finally ended and the credits were rolling, when I realised that something was rather wrong.

"… where the hell are Al and Bea?" I said, glancing over and realising that they had both disappeared.

"Erm …" Scorpius appeared to have not seen them leave, either. Then, he noticed something with chagrin and nodded behind me. I turned and saw that the front door was still partially left open.

"Oh, _hell_," I said, standing and moving across to the hallway to close the door. "I can't believe they snuck out on us!"

"I can't believe Bea managed to make Al cave!" Scorpius added. "I suppose this means I win our bet!" he added as I moved back into the lounge, awkwardly.

I accidentally caught his gaze from over at the sofa and I felt a bolt of pure fire run through me. It made me feel so nervous that I tore my gaze away and said, "Weeeeell, it's getting rather late, I'd better be going–!"

"What? You're not even _talking _to me, then?" Scorpius said, standing up from the sofa.

"I don't know what you–"

"_Rose_."

"For Merlin's sake, what did you _expect_?!" I snapped, whirling around to face him. "That I would just pretend that this morning was no big deal? I snapped, ok?! I didn't mean to – to – you know –"

"How could have not _meant_ to?" Scorpius said, looking sceptical. "Are you saying that you _accidentally_ threw me up against the kitchen counter?"

"Oh – like you weren't going to!" I yelled back.

"_What_?" Scorpius yelled in indignation.

"That look on your face? Yeah, you were about thirty seconds away from jumping me!"

"I – you – GAH!" Scorpius yelled. "Well, what did you _expect_, parading around my flat dressed like _that_?" he yelled, gesturing a hand up and down my body. I glared, since my shorts and t-shirt were fairly modest compared to my get up this morning.

"Come _on_, you _do_ realise how bloody hot it's been today?!" I yelled back. "You could've walked around shirtless and I wouldn't have cared!"

"_Really_?" Scorpius snorted. "Coming from the woman who once walked into a closed doorway when I took my shirt off?"

"That – _that was six years ago_!" I yelled, going red at the memory. Hell, I was seventeen at the time! "And you – you _know_ that I think you're gorgeous–"

"Then why are you fighting this?!" Scorpius suddenly burst out. Then, as I stared and he seemed to realise what he said, he started backtracking, literally as well, since he made to move towards his bedroom, probably to hide. "God – no, I mean – I said I was done and I am, forget I said that–"

"Scorpius!" I cut over him and he paused. "You … you can't mean that, right? I mean, I know that you still … y'know," I didn't want to say the word _love _out loud and he nodded uncomfortably. "but I figured that was just involuntary. You can't help it. You don't _actually_ mean that you consider me attractive, do you?"

Scorpius just stared at me in disbelief. "You're _kidding_ me?" he said.

"Not really, no," I said.

"For Merlin's sake, Rose!" Scorpius yelled, completely exasperated now. "Like _anyone_ could simply ignore you and you know it! Yes, ok? This morning, if you hadn't come at me, _I_ would have! What, you think I was just going to come in here and think, 'Oh, my hot ex is wandering half-naked around my flat, I'm _totally_ not going to try and shag her'?! You think I haven't felt how awkward it was tonight with you just sitting a few feet away?!"

"Scorpius, I–! … you actually think I'm _hot_?" I added, in a completely different voice.

"Of course!" Scorpius snapped back. "I've been telling you that for more or less seven years, you thought I was just making shit up?"

"No, I know that," I said, completely bewildered. "It's just … you honestly _still_ think that?"

Scorpius seemed to realise what I meant. Even now that we weren't together anymore and Scorpius had somehow still found himself stuck in love with me, he still thought that I was … y'know, _attractive_. The implications of such a statement seemed to be sinking into Scorpius's brain as his mouth was gaping open and closed, as if he couldn't quite agree on what answer to give me.

Then he said, "Rose, you're freaking _beautiful_."

And it was like once we had both agreed on the truthfulness of that statement, every other form of logic just flew out the window. Simultaneously, we started to move and I had slammed into him and was kissing him furiously within three seconds. I thrust my fingers straight into his hair, moaning because it had been _months_ since I'd done this. His arms wrapped around me so tightly I feared I'd stop breathing and as his mouthed attacked mine, he leaned into me with such force that the only reason I didn't fall over backwards was because of his vice-like grip.

I had gone _way_ too long without this.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it) it didn't stop there. I pushed against his chest and refusing to part from my lips, we staggered backwards until we reached the hallway and Scorpius practically slammed me against the wall. It was furious and rough and, god, that _tongue_ … I wrapped a leg around him and one of his arms slid around the length of my thigh, feeling the skin that was bare, thanks to my shorts. When he pulled my hips into his so his hand could reach my back pocket, his other on my neck, I swear I felt my mind just shatter into a million pieces. Nothing logical was happening anymore. I yanked on the collar of his shirt, trying to haul him closer and when I realised that he wasn't close enough, I reached down to pull his shirt off him entirely, throwing it somewhere down the hallway.

The next few wild moments I'll admit were a bit of a blur. Somehow, the door to his bedroom opened, my shirt was soon gone and the next thing I was aware of, I was being thrown onto his bed, Scorpius practically pouncing on top of me. I was wrapped as tightly as I could around him and within seconds, the rest of our clothes were gone as well.

For a second, we faltered, breaking apart to stare at each other. I didn't see how I could look at all attractive, but the expression in his eyes said something else entirely. "R-Rose–" he stammered.

"Scorpius, _shut up_."

Conclusion to being hot (in many different senses of the word): 

-I … I'm sorry, I just can't come up with anything. I'll get back to you when I can think straight.

Rose: 23, Scorpius: 21.

(My brain isn't even functioning. _Anything_ must be able to beat that).

* * *

A/N: Boy howdy! Honestly, I don't know how you guys are even going to react to this. Happy because they hooked up? Pissed off because they're being stupid?

I KNOW they're being stupid. Please don't worry, I know Rose and Scorpius still have _tonnes_ of things to talk about and Sophie to come to terms with, they are in _no way_ getting back together just yet; they're simply going about it in a very backwards way!

Up until this point, Rose and Scorpius were stuck in a 'do I go there again?' dance. This is essentially the catalyst for them to work out the rest of their shit, because nothing else was going to get through to them. Love is part physical, part emotional, and they've just figured out they both still have the physical. Emotional comes next!

Oh, and you may find that the next chapter is from our leading man's point of view. :)

Thank you SO MUCH for your reviews! Seriously, you're all just amazing. There's nothing else I can add except please keep telling me what you think.

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	30. The Hellish One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Scorpius, Rose, morning afters, stag do's and giant tattooed guys.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

_This chapter is from Scorpius's point of view. :)_

* * *

Chapter 29: The Hellish One.

Oh my god.

_I slept with Rose Weasley_.

What the hell do I do?! Don't look at her! There we go, let's start with that. I kept my eyes firmly on my bedroom ceiling and that lasted for about, oh, five seconds?

I glanced to the side. Rose was still there, asleep and curled up on her side with her back to me. Despite the fact that it had to be a million degrees, she was still half-wrapped in my bed sheet. Her back was bare and I had to seriously exercise self-control to not roll over and stretch an arm around her, sliding a foot against the smooth skin of her leg …

Bloody hell, Scorpius! Focus here!

I don't know what the hell had possessed me last night. One second, I'm yelling at her and the next, I've thrown her up against the wall, snogging her for all she was worth! Talk about mixed messages; barely a week ago I was telling her that I'm going to stay away and now … I think it's safe to say that we've screwed this up.

What the hell had she been _expecting_? That I could just pretend that I _hadn't_ seen her half-naked in my kitchen yesterday morning?! Trust me, that particular moment has been ringing through my head almost non-stop since it happened!

I'm not going to deny it … last night was seriously bloody amazing. But it was also wild and passionate and desperate and as a result, I hadn't let my brain just _stop_ and _think_ about the fact that sleeping with her would be a _really bad idea_. I seem to be rendered an idiot whenever Rose Weasley is concerned and last night had been no exception.

But _god_ …

Eventually, I figured that we couldn't just lie here forever (though that had once been a fantasy that we had managed for an entire weekend once, but that was a different story). So I hesitantly rolled over and muttered, "Erm … Rose?"

"Nuuugh …" Rose murmured, throwing a hand back and shoving me in the face in that lovely way of hers. The familiarity of the action ripped at me. It could have been a normal morning, six months ago. "Piss off … sleeping …"

"_Rose_," I said more insistently.

She flopped onto her back, blinking in confusion. Clearly, she was completely bewildered as to where the hell she was and I waited for it to click. It took one second of glancing up at me when the epiphany flared and her eyes went wide.

"Oh, _shit_," she said, flatly.

Yeah, that was my assessment.

* * *

"Oh my god, oh my god …" Rose was saying frantically, sitting on the edge of my bed, her head in her hands and shaking it from side to side. Her gorgeous red curls swept all the way down to her freckled mid-back. It physically hurt to not be able to touch it. "Holy SHIT, Scorpius! What the hell did we do?"

"Erm, am I right in thinking that saying 'we slept together' is not the answer you're looking for …?" I asked.

Rose turned to shoot me a glare. It was so terrifying that I hardly noticed that she was still naked. Well … like I said, _hardly_. When she caught me staring, she gave an exasperated groan before turning away. "Don't make jokes while I'm busy panicking!" Rose cried. "Why aren't you panicking?!"

"Honestly, I think I'm still in shock …" I _should_ have been panicking. I think I will be in a minute. As for right now, my brain is still in post-sex bliss and as a result, I think I've gone a bit fuzzy. However, that was about when Rose grabbed her t-shirt from the floor, yanking it over her head, and it sent me back to earth with a thump. If she was putting her clothes back on, she was definitely putting a lid on cuddle-time. Trying not to look too disappointed, I grabbed my boxers from the floor and yanked them on as Rose frantically searched my room.

"Where the hell are my knickers?" she snapped at me.

"Erm …" I awkwardly pointed out said knickers, which had been thrown on my desk on the opposite side of the room. Completely red in the face, she stormed over so she could continue dressing.

"Bloody hell, you're going to break something soon if you're not careful!" I said hastily, as she had yanked her shorts from on top of my lamp so hard that she had nearly sent the entire thing crashing to the ground.

"We had _sex_ last night and you're worried about your bloody LAMP?" Rose practically shrieked at me, stumbling over as she threw her shorts back on. "You're unbelievable!"

"Look, Rose, we need to – oi! Hang on!" I leapt out of bed, not bothering to try and find any more clothes since Rose had stormed out of my room. I tore after her, staggering out of my bedroom and just catching her as she crossed the lounge, my shirt still in the hallway and the film from last night still paused at the credits. I grabbed her arm to stop her from storming out completely. "Rose, wait!"

"_What_, Scorpius?" she yelled, yanking her arm back and whirling around with a furious look. Oh, god, I saw that look often and it normally told me that I needed to duck and cover. "What could you possibly say to make this less awkward?!"

"You – why the hell is this _awkward_?" I cried. "I've seen you naked hundreds of times!"

Rose scowled. "That's not it, and you know it!" she said. "Scorpius … this was so stupid of us! This wasn't supposed to happen yet!"

"… _yet_?" I repeated, hardly daring to believe her.

_That _made her pause. Seeming to realise what she had just said, she gulped visibly. Then, apparently deciding that she might as well bugger this up properly, she just squared her shoulders and said, "Yes. I mean, we … we were getting better, yeah? You and me, we were getting there, I swear, we were learning how to be together again. And I know that you said you were going to stay away, but the past week has been _excruciating_ with us being in the same room and not doing anything about it and I _know _you've felt it, too! So this was going to happen, but it wasn't supposed to happen _now_!"

I just stared at her, because honestly, what the hell was I supposed to say? I'm sorry? I didn't mean it? Thank you? Let's pretend this never happened?_ I love you_? She already knew the last was true.

I still had nightmares about that night on the balcony. It had basically ripped my heart out to tell Rose that I was essentially leaving her, but I needed to do it. After all the shit I had forced her through, I knew that there had to be no way in hell she'd take me back. It would be extremely well justified and well within her rights. I had been an idiot and much more over the past six months, so no matter how much I may have loved her, I let her go. I had forced myself to tell her I loved her for the last time and I never intended for those words to cross my lips again.

I should have stopped it last night. I should have pulled away; hell, I tried! But she told me to shut up and, well, you can't really deny Rose Weasley when she wants something. It was one of the qualities that made me fall in love with her in the first place.

"You … are you saying that you _wanted_ this to happen?" I said, my voice slightly strangled. Yes, because that is totally the point to focus on, Scorpius.

Rose coughed awkwardly at that, her endearing blush creeping its way up her neck. She looked like she was just starting to realise it herself, but she said, "Well … yes, clearly. Are you trying to tell me that you _haven't_ felt it the past week?"

"You're _kidding_ me?" I scoffed. "Rose, just last night, I had to skip out on dinner early to stand under a cold shower for over an hour. But … I _told_ you," I added, weakly. "I can't do this. Not now."

Rose just huffed, folding her arms and cocking a hip. "_Why_?" she insisted.

"_Why_–?" I honestly can't believe her sometimes. "Maybe because I made you a _promise_? A promise, if I may remind you, that was to not _hurt_ you again?! I screwed up majorly in our relationship and hell, it wasn't just you I hurt in the process! I can't do to Sophie what I did to you."

"Scorpius, if hurting Sophie is what you're worried about, then you're being bloody _stupid_!" Rose said, exasperatedly. "That girl is probably the most lovely, selfless person we've ever met and she _knows_ how we feel about each other, she's always bloody known! I've spoken to her, she doesn't want us to be unhappy!" She paused for a moment, glancing away and clutching her hair with her hand. I had to supress the urge to suddenly kiss her; I had accidentally taught her that. "Scorpius, _I_ don't want us to be unhappy."

Well, this was just bloody perfect. The second I say I'm leaving her alone, she comes to me and tells me she's dragging me back? Why the hell can't we ever get _anything_ right?

"Rose, five minutes ago, you were trying to storm out of here!"

"So? I was pissed off. When aren't I? You don't see me leaving now, do you?"

"Look, just don't say that," I basically pleaded. "Please, don't say that–"

"Why not?" Rose cried. "To hell with it, Scorpius, I want you! I _need_ you, and I'm not afraid to say it anymore! I understand why you told me you had to step back, because it made me see that you're no longer that bastard who made my life hell! But, Scorpius, you learnt from your mistakes and so _kill_ me if that means that I'm ready to fall in love with you again!"

"Rose–"

"I'm not done!" Rose said, taking a step forward. She gritted her teeth slightly, like she hadn't expected her feet to make the movement, but she stuck with it anyway. I couldn't even breathe. "Look, I know we did this all wrong, all backwards, we should have talked it out first … but screw it, we're Rose and Scorpius, we _never_ do things the right way! Why the hell should we start now?"

I tried to supress the grin that was making its way to my face; because, essentially, Rose was right; to hell with the promise I had made her. I had told her I was going to stay away because I had thought that was what she wanted at the time. Clearly, I had been wrong and my heart practically _sang_ at that.

But there _was_ something I needed to address first.

"Rose …" I said, weakly. "I … you have no idea how much I want … but I don't want to leap back into this too fast. Honestly … I didn't think you'd ever even _consider_ me again, after all I've done. You're …" There was no word in the English language that could sum up Rose Weasley, so I settled for something far less impressive, "… stunning. Incredible and amazing and _stunning_, because half the time I look at you and I think there is nothing that I could have possibly done that makes me deserve you. I just want to do this right; not too fast. I don't want to hurt you or Sophie ever again."

"I've already pointed out why Sophie is an invalid excuse," Rose said, her eyes softening. All through my speech, she had stared with a clenched jaw, like she was trying to either not cry or not hit me, I was unsure as to which one. "As for you … Scorpius, you won't _ever_ hurt me again," Rose said, quietly. I met her eyes and I saw genuine love in them. "Trust me," she added when I stayed quiet and she took another step closer. "I would bloody _murder_ you before you even have the chance of hurting me again, so you don't need to worry."

It a fit of what seemed like bravery, she reached up and placed her hands either side of my neck, her thumbs skimming my jaw. I closed my eyes; I never realised how much you could miss someone's touch until now. "Scorpius," she whispered. "_I love you_."

And then she kissed me and I could feel the truth behind her words. Was there really any other choice but to kiss her back? Her lips were passionate and daring and they made my heart explode. Still without a shirt, she trailed her hands down my neck, my shoulders, and to my chest, but before she could get any further, I finally gained sense back in my arms. I took hold of her hands and pulled back.

Her face flashed between hurt and pissed off in rapid fire. Desperate to wipe that look away, I was quick to say,

"Rose, I'm not saying _no_," I even pressed close to her, hoping to convey that I wasn't trying to get rid of her. "Hell, I couldn't _ever_ say no to you. You're right. Of course you are. You've always been the smart one."

"Really?" Rose whispered, her forehead still pressed against mine.

"You know how I feel," I said back. "Could I really give you any other answer?"

I could almost feel her smile against my lips as she kissed me once more. However, before I could let it get completely out of hand, I reluctantly stepped away and tried not to find her protests sexy. "_Rose_," I added to her, since she was now tugging her hands back in exasperation. "There still those things we need to do first … things you _know_ we need to do," There was a list of stuff that we needed to talk about, not to mention finding peace with Sophie. "Besides, our best friends are getting married _tomorrow_. Who the hell are we to steal their thunder?"

"You think that Al and Bea are going to be pissed off because we'd _steal their limelight_?" Rose said.

"Wouldn't _you _be?"

"I'd be more worried about Queen Godzilla!"

"Oh, god, I never even _thought_ of her," I pointed out. Rose laughed at that and I felt my mouth twitch slightly in a grin. "Oh, man … I _never_ thought this would happen," I admitted to her. Rose was right. She was always bloody _right_. Sure, there were a million things we needed to solve and we probably had the worst timing in the world, but me and her together, we worked. We felt right and to hell with anything that stood in our way. I'd learned, I'd grown up from what we'd been through. We could _do_ this.

"You're … you're serious about this though, aren't you?" she asked, hesitantly. "About … giving us another shot?"

"_Yes_," I insisted, though I added, "but Rose–"

"Oh, come _on_!" she cut over me, insistent. "Who cares if we have shit-loads if stuff to get through? Besides, Al and Bea won't care–"

"Please, Rose, just let us get through the wedding–"

"But – you – GAH!" she cried. "You're _still_ so annoying sometimes, Scorpius Malfoy!"

I grinned. "You thought that when we first met. I'm really not expecting that to change."

She seemed to inwardly struggle for several moments. Then, she gave a frustrated yell, before storming for the door. "I know you're right, but god I hate you!" she yelled before slamming the door behind her.

For a good ten seconds I just stood there, staring at the closed door and still feeling her last kiss on my lips. Then, I turned to flop down onto my back on the sofa, lifting a cushion to my face before screaming as loudly as I could in what I think was both triumph and frustration.

* * *

That was where Al found me, a few minutes later. I know, my life is _seriously_ going places; lazing around his flat in his underwear and eating biscuits and spray-cheese. It was unfortunately a comfort food I had picked up back at Hogwarts once I had realised that Rose binged on chocolate whenever she was nervous. Only the slamming of the front door made me come down from my cheesy afterlife or whatever the hell my mind was thinking.

"… whoa," Al's voice chimed in and I glanced up to see him staring at me in confusion. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Your cousin happened."

Al shot me a shrewd look before kicking my legs off the sofa so he could sit down next to me. I reluctantly sat up. We were both silent for several moments, him not saying anything and me wondering if it was possible to live off spray-cheese for the rest of your life. Eventually, though, Al spoke.

"Rose didn't come home last night," he said, shortly. When I didn't say anything in answer, my best mate continued. "Then, just as Bea and I were having breakfast, she storms in yelling that she hates someone and goes slamming into her room. She was still wearing her clothes from yesterday …" Again, I didn't say anything. I couldn't say it out loud. Not to her cousin. "… Scorpius mate, I love you, you're like another brother to me and all that shit, but if you don't tell me what happened here …" Al took a deep breath. "Did she stay here last night?"

I glanced up. One look from Al and I knew he would see through any lie I could tell. "… yeah," I said, eventually. "She stayed." I shoved another cheesy biscuit into my mouth and tugged at the roots of my hair.

Al just let out his breath, flopping into the back of the sofa like one blow to the chest had knocked the air out of him. He looked a cross between shocked and disgusted. "_Mate_ …"

"I know, I know!" I said. "It was _definitely _stupid of us, but in my defence, she came on to me!"

"… _really_?" Al said, sceptically.

"Ok, fine, we sort of came onto each other," I said, spraying myself another biscuit. "Look, you don't have to tell me that it was idiotic and that we shouldn't have done it because I _know_ that, all right? You know the deal we had, I was going to stay away, but it's all your fault!"

"How the hell was this _my _fault?!"

I just snorted. "If you hadn't caved to your flirting fiancée …"

Al went bright red and I swear, he _giggled_. Oh, Al. "Er, yeah, about that …" he began.

I just held up a hand. "Save it, mate. I seriously don't want to know. I _did_ win ten Galleons, though, so I guess a thanks is in order."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Al muttered.

"Al," I said eventually; his silence was starting to scare me slightly and his expression gave me the impression that he was about to eat me alive. "Look … at this point, I really just need you to be Al: my best mate, rather than Al: Rose's cousin, for a bit," I glanced up at him. "_Please_?"

Al just sighed. "Go on, then. Can you even _try_ and explain this?"

Oh, I definitely tried. I told him everything, from yesterday morning and that almost-something in the kitchen, all the way to Rose storming out this morning after the definite-something last night. I kept talking until all my biscuits were gone and Al gave me a sympathetic look. There, see? That's all I wanted! A little sympathy can go a long way.

"… oh, Scorpius mate …"

"I know."

"I mean seriously, _mate_ …"

"I _know_!" I repeated. "Then there was this morning …"

"From the state Rose was in, I'm guessing it wasn't pretty?"

"Al, she said she _loves_ me," I said. Again with the stupid grin. Can't it just go away? "She said it was backwards and we went about it all wrong by sleeping together, but it didn't matter because that's what we did, we get things wrong and still somehow figure it out. You have no idea how much I …" I slammed my head back into the sofa, trying to get last night out of my head. If I wanted to function at all today, I would have to get it out for at least a moment. Unfortunately, the head-banging didn't work. The images were still there. _Rose naked, sliding against my skin … Rose kissing me, moaning … Rose with her hands on my_ –

"Mate?"

"What?" I snapped back, willing my face not to go red. C'mon, Scorpius, her cousin is sitting _right next to you_!

"You went somewhere else," Al pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "Do I even want to know where?"

"Probably not."

Al went a little green, but thankfully knew better than to press me for information. We'd discovered several years ago that _those_ sorts of conversations were better left unsaid, especially since the girls involved were either actually or practically related to us.

"Look," Al said, "She might be my cousin, but I've watched you two since the beginning. You love her. She loves you. If you wanted to go there again, why the bloody hell didn't you?"

I thought. Essentially, there were two reasons: Rose and Sophie. But Rose had made me see that both were just excuses, and pretty pathetic ones at that. When it came to her, she had been right; I knew that there was no way in _hell_ that I would hurt her again. I'd rather subject myself to Queen Godzilla's wedding planning than do it again and let's face it, her threats are always genuine, even the more homicidal ones.

So I decided to explain the slightly more safer topic to Al, although admittedly, it wasn't exactly a less painful one. "Sophie. I didn't want me and her to be over," I said, quietly. I hesitantly offered Al my can of spray-cheese. He took it, probably just to humour me, but I appreciated it all the same. "Seriously, I loved being with Sophie! She was sweet, she wasn't _hard_ …"

"But …?" Al could sense there was one coming.

I sighed. "When she was yelling at me at St Mungo's, I knew she was right. That there was Rose. It was always going to be bloody _Rose_. I didn't want to hurt her and I really like her …"

"But you couldn't keep doing it," Al finished for me.

I nodded. "That's why I didn't fight it. It's why I didn't go after her," I admitted. "It's why I told her I was sorry and that I wasn't going to go anywhere near Rose. I'd done enough leaping into new relationships without thinking it through."

"This is just my observation," Al pointed out. "but Sophie's fantastic. I get the feeling that she wouldn't want you to laze around the rest of your life, feeling sorry for yourself."

"That's what Rose said."

"Then what the hell is WRONG with you?" Al burst out and I looked up in shock. I knew the bloke was wired, what with his wedding scheduled to take place in just over 24 hours, but I'd never seen him yell at me quite like _that_ before. "Scorpius! This is bloody ridiculous! You need to pull your head out of your arse and consider the facts here: you are in bloody LOVE with Rose and you've just found out that she, for unfathomable reasons, still loves YOU! For god's sake, just get OVER yourself and go for it because if you don't, if you let her go, you're going to REGRET it for THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE LIFE!"

I just stared at my best mate. He was on his feet now, panting heavily from his outburst and, to top off his speech, he reached up with the can of cheese and sprayed a burst into his mouth with a flourish.

"… Al, I _know_," I said, trying to placate him as he collapsed down next to me and offered me the can of cheese. He sprayed some into my mouth for me as I thought. "Rose and I, we're it. There's no going back, she's the only girl I'll _ever_ want to be with and she knows it. She loves me and I swear to you, this morning I told Rose the same thing."

"But Sophie–"

"I was only explaining what happened with her, bloody hell!" I grinned at him as Al scowled. "I didn't expect you to go all protective warrior cousin on me, mate."

Al just grumbled, while I kept the smile on my face. While I felt so sickly nervous at the thought of facing Rose again after this morning that no amount of cheesy biscuits could ever ease the squirm in my stomach (though, eating that many biscuits had probably contributed to the queasiness in the first place), I realised that no matter my decision, it was always the same: I was being stupid. There hadn't actually been a moment of last night that I regretted. Yes, it was the worst timing in the world, but being that close with Rose again had been thrilling and I had _never_ wanted to let her go.

"Look," I told my best mate. "Tonight's your stag night and tomorrow, you're getting _married_! We're going to get through that with minimal maiming and awkwardness. Once it's over and you can jet off into marital bliss, I swear, we'll somehow get this right."

"Scorpius …" Al sighed. "You've been trying to do that for years."

"I know," I said. "But this time, it's going to work."

* * *

"… Lu, you honestly love Trevor, right?" I asked, rather bluntly.

Lucy just stared weirdly, handing over the cup of tea she had made me. "Is this an interrogation?" she asked, sitting down on her sofa next to me with her own tea. "Because I'm pretty certain that if it is, I'm not at liberty to divulge that information."

"Aw, c'mon, I'm just curious," I tried to prompt.

"Scorpius, you don't just _ask_ someone that in a casual conversation," Lucy whacked me on the arm. "Has 23 years of living taught you _nothing_?"

Lucy was someone I often came to if I needed a brain that thought like mine. She was a natural Slytherin, just like me, and she always knew exactly what she wanted. She knew how people worked and she could manipulate them in any way to get whatever she needed. I loved her. Besides, it was a bit refreshing to get her opinion after logical Bea, morally abiding Al or bloody irrational Rose. And, let's face it, she was the perfect person to bitch about Rose to, considering there was the whole fact that the two girls had hated each other since they met.

It was hard keeping Lucy as a friend since we left Hogwarts, I'll admit. She had initially lived at home until she knew she knew about the Healer course. Once she was accepted, I told her about the empty flat across from mine and Al's and she moved in straight away. Yeah, I had sort of been asking for my head to get bitten off by Rose, but she'd been all right with it in the end … er, sort of.

I avoided answering Lucy's question and decided to divert the topic of conversation completely. "You going to Bea's hens night?"

"Yeah," Lucy told me, thankfully not calling me out on changing the subject and instead, simply sipped her tea. "I'm glad she invited me, Bea's a good friend, though the night should be more than just interesting."

"Hanging out with Rose and Queen Godzilla all night? God help you."

"Are you two fighting again?" Lucy always did seem to know how to peg me. She slammed her tea down onto the coffee table. "I swear, I've warned that girl, if she steps out of line–!"

"I've already told you!" I snapped. "You can't keep _blackmailing_ her! Besides, you already tried it and she managed to smooth it over!"

I had somewhat forgiven Lucy for doing that; I mean, I _may_ have started it seeing as I probably shouldn't have told her that Rose went on that course in the first place. But while every single word I had told Rose was true about my reasoning, I had still offered to be Cesario for a small part out of guilt. If it hadn't been for me, she wouldn't have had to go into that office and fight for her job. As much as I hated her sometimes, she was a brilliant Healer and like hell was I going to see all that talent go to waste.

"Look, I told you, I just don't want to see you get hurt again!" Lucy told me, tossing her black hair over her shoulder. "Rose Weasley has screwed up your life on more than enough occasions and I hate being at the other end, helping you pick up the pieces."

"I don't fall to _pieces_ …" I grumbled under my breath, folding my arms in a huff. Lucy snorted and leaned forward to ruffle my hair.

"Sure you don't," she grinned. "You want some cheesy-biscuits?"

"… yes, please."

"You ran out, didn't you?"

"How'd you guess?"

"When you walked through my door, you greeted me with 'life's a bitch' so yeah, I assumed that you'd had a bad morning," Lucy told me as she summoned over spray-cheese and a packet of Jammy Dodgers from her kitchen. As I gratefully started chowing down, Lucy eyed me thoughtfully. Her next question took me completely off guard and I ended up choking on my Jammy Dodger,

"Did you get off with Weasley?"

"_What_?!" I gasped, spraying crumbs all over her sofa.

Lucy looked non-pulsed. "Well, you randomly asked me if I'd ever loved Trevor, so am I correct in assuming that the question arose from you being in a similar situation?"

I looked at her desperately, kind of hoping that she would just take pity on me and figure it out herself so I wouldn't have to say it. But I knew my best friend. She wasn't about to let me off that lightly and so I ended up blurting out everything. By the time I had finished, the Jammy Dodgers were gone and Lucy was shaking her head. "Oh, hell, Scorpius …" she muttered. "You're not _serious_? You're actually going to go _back_ there?"

"Not until after the wedding, once we've sorted things out–"

"Scorpius, you slept with your ex-girlfriend all but two weeks after breaking up with Sophie!" Lucy pointed out. "Tell me, _how_ exactly are you going to sort this out?"

"Well, for starters, I'm going to just let things die down a bit–"

"_Wrong_!" Lucy cut in at once. "First thing: you have to talk to Sophie."

"Why did I get the feeling you were going to say that?"

"Er, maybe because it's _true_?" Lucy just shoved me on the arm, confiscating the spray-cheese, since I had started just eating it straight from the bottle. "Scorpius, this is the exact sort of thing I was hoping to avoid! That's why I thought you should ask Sophie out in the first place! You have to talk to Sophie and get over Rose or you won't ever be completely happy with someone else!"

"Has it ever occurred to you that I might not _want_ to be happy with someone else?" I asked.

Lucy just stared. Then, she groaned and covered her face with her hand.

"Oh, HELL, Scorpius! No! Come on, you can't still be in LOVE with her! _That's_ what the weird question was about?"

"I can't help it!" I cried. "Trust me, Lu, I've been trying to get her out of my head more or less since I met her! But there's just something inside me that makes me have to love her! Sophie is amazing and ideally the kind of girl I should want to be with but …"

"… you can't make yourself fall for her," Lucy finished for me. "Not while _she's _around."

"Lucy, it's more than that," I told her.

"_Really_?" Lucy said, scepticism dripping through her voice. "Because from what I've seen so far, you were so ready to try and forget all about Rose. Tell me one thing: if Sophie hadn't dumped you, would you still be with her today? _Honestly_?"

I really thought about it, that day at St Mungo's. Rose and I had been growing closer and it was becoming harder and harder to lie to myself and say that I wasn't still in love with her. Before entering that stairwell, I

hated myself a little when I realised that yes, I probably wouldn't have done anything about it; if we had just walked up the stairs with no confronting fight, I would have continued ignoring my real feelings, because dealing with it was just too hard. But there _had_ been a confrontation … and Sophie had called me out, made me admit to myself that I was in love with someone else, and that dragging our relationship out was never going to result in anything good. So …

"No," I told my best friend. "No, I wouldn't."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because I wasn't in love with the girl I was in a relationship with," I said, simply. "She made me see that and I'm thankful she did. That's why I didn't fight it. Because if she hadn't have dumped me – don't know why she wouldn't, but _if_ – I wouldn't have been able to keep it going. Not knowing what I did."

"But you and Rose … you've never been anything but a mass of pain and drama!" Lucy told me. "I know, I've watched you the entire time!"

"Lucy, you don't understand," I said. "Rose … god, Lu, Rose and I are a mess. Ever since we met, it's just been one crazy moment after another. And once upon a time, I just _hated_ the fact that I loved her. Every time we exchanged a look, every time she walked into a room, every time she would punch me or tell me I was an idiot, my bloody heart just ran a mile and I couldn't switch it off! Half the time I got mad at her _because_ I was so annoyed at myself for loving her."

"Why do I sense a 'but' coming?" Lucy asked.

I smiled. "But she's Rose," I told her. "and I might have felt like that once … but we've had a relationship since then. I got to see what it was actually like being with her. Being together. And hell, I _want_ that. It doesn't matter that we're a mess and don't make sense, because sometimes, I look at us and I can't believe how far we've come. Fifteen-year-old Scorpius couldn't stand the fact that he loved her. Twenty three-year-old Scorpius couldn't be happier. She told me she _loves_ me, Lucy," I added, since I was still reeling from that particular part of our conversation. "She still loves me, so yeah, I don't _care_ if we're an explosion waiting to happen. She's amazing for even considering me and if I get my way, I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to convince her that we might be completely wrong for each other … but that's what makes us _so right_."

Lucy watched me for a moment. I had no idea what look I must have on my face, but whatever it was made Lucy sigh, like all the fight had gone out of her. "Scorpius," she said, warily. "I just don't want to see you go through all this shit again. I thought you were at least going to try with Sophie–?"

"Hey, I did try," I pointed out. "In fact, I like to think I did a pretty damn good job at convincing myself everything was perfect, but it wasn't, not really. We went out for four months and I still don't love her any more than the day we met. But that's my point, Lu," I added. "I don't _want_ to try anymore. Even though I feel sick to my stomach at the thought of hashing this all out once the wedding's over, I'm going to do it anyway, because Rose and I, we're _going_ to work this time."

Lucy just gave me a grim look, draining the last of her tea. I smirked, since I knew she'd never really warm up to Rose, but in the end, I knew that she only wanted what was best for me. We were silent for a few moments during which I wondered when the hell my life had turned so insane. It never used to be this complicated! I used to just be a simple bloke who wanted to make a difference for the treatment of Muggles and Muggle-borns. I had a few close best friends and I even had people that I didn't like. Then, I just _had _to go and fall in love and the universe tipped upside down.

Although now, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I glanced at Lucy. She had been in love with me, once upon a time. I had thought I loved her, though it hadn't taken me long to realise that that love was only to the extent of friendship. Even now, the thought of kissing her kind of grossed me out; however, thinking about it, it would have been one hell of a simpler life.

"… you ever wonder what might have happened?" I asked out of curiosity. "If, y'know, we had managed to make things work?"

Lucy gave me a small smile. "A very different life, I would imagine. Much less dramatic."

"Oh, I dunno, you really could give Rose a run for her money," I pointed out.

Lucy snorted. "Look, Scorpius, in the end it doesn't really matter what might have happened, because it _didn't_. We can't just sit here and wish we could change the past, because it won't solve anything. You have to get off your arse and fix your love life yourself. And you know I don't like Weasley, but …" She gave me a grudging smile. "I'll admit, you were always your happiest with her and that's all I want. I want you to be happy."

Otherwise known as Lucy-talk for 'I approve'. "Hey now, steady on!" she cried as I suddenly leaned forward and wrapped her in a tight hug.

"I love you, Lucy!" I told her.

"Well, now," she hugged me back, the smile obvious in her voice. "I love you, too."

"At least _your_ life is fine and dandy," I said, pulling back. "You've got Trevor, after all."

Suddenly, Lucy looked uncomfortable. "Um, yeah, about that …"

"Oh, for god's sake, you broke up with him _again_?!" I cried.

"Yes," Lucy said shortly. Her tone made me look at her and I noticed the almost dead look in her eyes. I knew that look. It was the face that said that she was being strong. She didn't care. She wasn't going to let a silly boy's teasing's get to her. She wasn't going to cry. "For real."

"Lu, c'mon," I said, quietly. I nudged her on the arm, but she didn't look up. "You say that _every_ time."

"I mean it," she said.

"You always say that as well …"

Lucy just groaned, rubbing her forehead. "Look, Trevor and I, we've been struggling along for _years_. A relationship just shouldn't be this hard!"

"Are you kidding me?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "Lucy … relationships are _always_ going to be hard. You have to _want_ them to stay together. If not … they fall apart," I reached out and took hold of Lucy's chin, making her look at me. "Trust me, I know. Do you _want_ that?"

"I don't even know what I want anymore," Lucy said, bitterly.

* * *

I might have sat there, arguing with Lucy all day, but I had to get to work soon and Lucy made it pretty clear that my bitch session with her was over for now. I promised that I would catch up with her later and also half-heartedly mentioned that I would try and talk to Sophie. My stomach just churned at the thought.

Ok, so I shouldn't have slept with Rose without us first sorting our shit out. I honestly _never_ meant to hurt Sophie. I loved Sophie, I thought she was _brilliant_ … except she wasn't Rose. No one else could ever be Rose. I spent the first two hours of my shift at work staring into space, sitting inside my tiny wardrobe-sized 'office', which was basically just a cubicle connected to three other 'office's with low walls. I had practically run past Sophie's office – only a few metres away, on the other side of mine – but now I was staring at the wall, as if I could see her through it. I still remembered the day I met her eight months ago, leaning over that wall and introducing herself …

* * *

"_Hey!" _

_I glanced up to see a blond head poking over the top of the wall that separated my office from the empty one next door. Curious, I answered, "Hello?" _

"_My name's Sophie," the woman said. Her heart-shaped face was smiling and her blond hair was straight and long, just like how Rose had always wished hers was. I told her to shut up every time she said it; she was bloody beautiful no matter what she thought. If only she listened. "I'm the new intern, this is my first day, thought I'd introduce myself." _

"_Scorpius," I said, extending my hand and shaking hers. "I've been here for five years now, so if there's anything you need, feel free to ask." _

"_Have you met the boss?" Sophie asked, grinning cheekily. _

_I couldn't help but smile; she seemed like one of those people, always happy. "Hermione Weasley? She's my girlfriend's mother." _

"_Oh, hell! I bet that makes it awkward at Christmas," Sophie laughed, her eyes sparkling. _

"_My family's worse, I think it makes up for it," I answered. "But really, Mrs Weasley's brilliant, you don't have anything to fear. Where're you from?" _

"_London, Ealing to be exact," Sophie said, resting her arms across the top of the wall. "I've wanted to work in Muggle Relations since third-year at Hogwarts, but I worked in a shop in Diagon Alley before I got this job. I couldn't wait, but god, it was nerve-wracking." _

"_I got this job straight out of Hogwarts," I reassured her. "Imagine eighteen-year-old me sitting here, freaking out, and you've got a pretty good idea of what that entire first year was like." _

_Sophie laughed and I found myself liking it. You didn't hear enough people laughing these days; it was all bad news and complaining. Sophie seemed like a bright spark; a good story amongst the dark. I decided right there on the spot that we'd be brilliant friends._

* * *

And when I thought of her and listened to my heart, it still said the same thing: friends. Nothing more.

I knew that Lucy was right and talking to Sophie was one of the things I needed to do before Rose and I could … y'know. Be together. And suddenly, I was standing before I even realised that I had consciously made the decision and was striding out of my office, crossing the couple of metres and bursting through the door of the next office over.

"_Sophie, I'm sorry_!" I cried.

Sophie leapt a mile, spinning on her chair to stare at me. Her blond hair was half tied back, showing off her beautiful face. There would be some lucky bloke out there who would fall in love with her and make her happy, but that bloke was never going to be me.

"Scorpius?" she asked. "What the hell're you doing here?"

I hadn't spoken to her since the day after the stairwell, since I had come in here to tell her the exact same thing I was telling her now: that I was sorry. Only the second half of my statement had changed.

"I need to talk to you," I said, glancing at the ground. "I'm so sorry for everything and I need to talk to you about it."

Sophie stared at me hard for several moments, but eventually, Sophie just conjured up an extra chair, kicking it towards me and I caught it. I sank down, gratefully, on the opposite side of the office. Sophie watched me for several moments with a curious expression.

"Something _happened_, didn't it?" she said suddenly, after a few moments. "Between you and Rose."

"I, um …" I began, weakly. Then, unable to deny it, I simply said, "… it wasn't while we were together, I swear."

Sophie simply snorted at that, grimness in her tone. "I trust you, Scorpius," she said. "I know it wasn't."

"I never wanted to hurt you."

"I know that, too," Sophie sighed. "Scorpius, I've known since day one that it would eventually end like this. I tried to put it out of my head, but I _knew_ …"

I stared.

"If you knew, why did you say yes to going out with me?" I asked, completely bewildered now. Honestly, this is why I should just give up on girls completely and turn gay. I mean, there's some blokes in my department who don't look that bad … or well, Rose always said they didn't look like mutants, so I'm guessing that's a good thing, right?

Back to the issue at hand here, Sophie just looked at me, a genuine, albeit small, smile coming to her face. "Scorpius, I said yes because I _liked _you!" she said, nudging me with her foot. "I'd liked you ever since we met! But I knew you had a girlfriend, so I didn't do anything about it. Then, you mentioned that you'd broken up and then later, there was that day … I never expected you to ask me. So of _course_ I said yes."

"Knowing that it would end like this," I reiterated and she nodded. "_How_? How on earth did you know?"

Sophie paused for a moment before saying, "… Rose."

Merlin, how can one name, one person, cause so much _drama_?

"Right. Rose."

"Look, I knew that eventually, we'd fall apart because of her," Sophie said, sadly. I didn't like it. Sophie wasn't a sad person; she didn't deserve this. "I didn't quite know to what extent, but on our first date, when you said you'd been together for six years, I just _knew_. But I can't really be mad at her. You, on the other hand, I do sort of wish that you'd waited at least a little bit before getting her back, but all things considered …"

"You think I've got her _back_?" I actually laughed at that. "I suppose you don't want to know the details, but Sophie, whatever happened between us, I definitely don't have her _back_."

Sophie just stared. "Then what the hell is _wrong_ with you?" she said, a little of her usual spark coming back. "I accepted this thinking that you'd at least be _happy_! What the bloody hell did you do to screw it up?!"

"Oi!" I countered and Sophie actually giggled. That was the girl I loved. Unfortunately, not in the right way. "I didn't screw it up! I'm actually here to fix it! I mean, we have issues. A _lot _of issues," I added, thinking. "But I'm not botching it this time. I told her I needed to sort some things and we had to talk before we went back there, so here I am, talking to you."

"I'm something you need to sort out."

"Exactly," I said, then I winced. "I'm sorry, that makes you sound like an annoying problem I can't get rid of. I swear, that's not how I see you."

"I _know_, Scorpius," Sophie told me and I looked up at her. Her face was still subdued, still upset, but there was something in her eyes that told me that I was finally doing the right thing. "You've been in love with Rose the entire time that I've known you – don't you even _try_ to deny it –" she was quick to snap as I had already opened my mouth to counter. "But I know you said you weren't going to try it with Rose again. What changed?"

"Her," I admitted. "She got through to me; knocked sense into me. I pulled away because I was afraid of hurting her again. I know now that'll never happen. I was also afraid of hurting you, because essentially I've done the same thing I did to Rose: I jumped into a new relationship too soon."

Sophie thought about that. "Well, you're right," she said, eventually. "It was stupid of you."

"Completely."

"I have every right to be pissed off."

"Of course."

"Scorpius, don't get me wrong; I _am_ upset," Sophie admitted and I felt that pain shoot through me again. "But I spoke to Rose about a week ago. She knows that I'm ok with this. Ok with the idea of you two."

"How can you say that?" I asked, honestly. "If it were me, I'd never let me be happy again!"

"Because we're different people, Scorpius," Sophie said, simply. "To me, there's no reason for pointless anger, if it only keeps two people who need to be together from being happy. Admittedly, you should have sorted all this before you … did whatever it is you did; I still don't really need to know," she added and I nodded awkwardly. "But what's done is done and I'm ok with this. I've honestly loved being with you. I'd still say yes, even knowing all this. But hell, if there's one thing that I am, it's a hopeless romantic and like heck am I letting you screw everything up!"

"Sophie, are you _sure_?" I said, weakly.

"I'm upset," she said, simply. "You asked me out even though it was obvious, even to you, that you weren't over her and never would be. That I haven't quite forgiven you for. But I will, eventually. We were happy together, weren't we?"

"We were," I said. "But there were cracks … cracks we didn't talk about." Cracks like Rose. Like how it was clear that I wasn't over her. It would have been impossible for Rose to not come up in any of our conversations when we were together and naturally, when she did, things often went either snappy, or silent.

"And that's both our faults," Sophie agreed. "You were in love with someone else and we both refused to accept it."

"We did a pretty good job at convincing ourselves that everything was fine and glamorous, didn't we?"

Sophie almost smiled. "Oh, we did," she answered. "and even though not talking about it is what let us continue without fights or pain, it would have exploded eventually. But despite that, we still had fun together. And it's always sad when something like that ends. On the other hand, you and Rose have something stronger, something unexplainable and I'd have to be bloody blind to not see it. So yes, Scorpius, _I'm damn sure_ that I'm ok with this. And I want you to promise me something. Just one thing, yeah?"

"Of course," I said at once. "Anything."

Sophie really did smile this time. "_Don't let her get away_."

* * *

So naturally, by the time night rolled around I was totally in the right mind space for Al's stag do; seriously, _more_ than ready to get completely hammered! Like it was Rose's job to organise Bea's hens night, I was supposed to organise the stag do, which I of course did my best with, what with Queen Godzilla breathing down my bloody neck. Seriously, that girl is hot, but there's no possible way the bitch is Bea's sister. It's just not possible. I once suggested to Rose that Bea was adopted out and was secretly a princess of some obscure Eastern European country no one has ever heard of and she had surprisingly agreed with me.

Anyway, since I was practically forced to run every idea past Queen Godzilla first, I ended up with a pretty simple stag do (don't even ask me why it had to be the night before the wedding; we'll all be killing ourselves with the hangovers, but at least we'll have someone to blame!). Tonight, it was just your typical pub crawl through seven of London's finest. Oh, and I'm pretty sure strippers will turn up at some point. I don't think it's really a stag do without strippers.

"Scorpius, exactly _how_ drunk am I going to get tonight?" Al asked me, about half an hour after we had arrived in all our glory at the first pub. I just laughed at my best friend.

"Mate," I said. "You're wearing a t-shirt checklist for us to tick off across the night, including things like 'get a hot girl's bra' and 'get a photo with a hippy'. I think it's safe to say that you're going to get completely trolleyed."

"Right," Al shrugged on his stool at the bar. He clicked his fingers at the bartender. "Oi! Mate! Give me a shot of whatever's the strongest! I'm getting married tomorrow!"

And the night commenced with several blokes cheering loudly in the crowded Friday night pub as Al knocked back a shot that made him cough and splutter. I just patted him on the back and oversaw the ordering of drinks for everyone as Al punched a fist into the air and yelled with his mates. Overall, there were fourteen of us; me, Al, James, Hugo, Toby, Trevor, Teddy, Louis, Fred and four of Al's friends from work. We of course all looked like complete idiots, considering that we were wearing matching t-shirts that were bright pink and read, 'Al + Bea = FOREVERRRR!' with a picture of a pair of handcuffs underneath. Al's cousin, Louis, was officially in charge of the camera, jumping around excitedly and taking photos of everything, the piece of paper in his pocket being his signed contract saying that he could take photos, so long as none of the evidence is ever seen by any of the women. Of course we needed photographic evidence to blackmail Al with, but like hell were we letting Bea see what happened over the course of tonight! What happens at the stag do _stays_ at the stag do.

"Everybody, say congrats to Al!" James was yelling to practically everyone within earshot, shoving Al's hand into the air like a boxer who had just won his match. "My baby bro is getting married! Who the hell would have thought it?"

"Yeah, 'cause it's not like _you_ were going to be getting married any time soon," Hugo pointed out.

"Whatever," Fred grumbled, rolling his eyes. "He's all into Libby now, he's totally ruined everything, the bastard."

"Oi!" James punched his best friend on the arm as Al just laughed into his drink. "For tonight, I'm a bachelor, baby! There's a reason this is officially called a bachelor party, right?"

"I don't care what any of you say, I can't WAIT to be married!" Al cried, happily.

I just grinned as Al and the rest of the boys all jeered and laughed together, causing pretty much the biggest scene in the pub. However, I hung back, glancing at my watch to make sure we got to the next pub on time and trying to forget the emotionally hellish day I'd been having. In terms of what I'd achieved so far, I was extremely happy, but actually achieving it had left me utterly _exhausted_. I didn't think any of the blokes noticed, but apparently, I couldn't be ignored, no matter how far back I slunk.

"Hey, Scorpius," Teddy Lupin dropped down onto the stool next to me at one of the tables we were occupying. The others were currently cheering on Hugo and one of Al's work friends as they tried to make a tower out of their empty beer mugs. However, Teddy was looking at me. "What's up?"

"We're at your little cousin's stag do and you're asking _me_ what's up?" I asked.

Teddy shrugged. "Even I can tell when a bloke is having a hard time," he told me. "I know, I've been having one as well."

"Why?" I didn't know why we were having this conversation. I mean, I barely knew Teddy Lupin. I'd met him less than ten times in my entire life, despite the fact that we were second cousins and that he grew up alongside my ex-girlfriend.

Teddy laughed. "Mate, I'm thirty and have a kid!" he said, his hair bright pink to match our t-shirts. "By any definition, I'm not exactly a bachelor any more, am I? I was surprised Al even wanted me to come!"

"You're his family, of course he wanted you to come," I pointed out. "You practically helped look after him!"

"Al tell you that?"

"I suppose so," I shrugged. The two of us both winced when the beer mug tower collapsed down onto the table with a huge _crash_ and the boys all groaned. "Never really thought about it. Al and I sort of tell each other a lot."

"So does he know why you look willing to take a memory charm to the head? What?" Teddy had caught my look. "It's your best mate's stag do and you look like you're heading to a funeral!"

"I've had a very exhausting day, all right? I had to talk to my ex-girlfriend; about why she became my ex in the first place," I sighed. I glanced at my watch and yelled at the boys, "OI! Before you lot break anything, the pub crawl keeps on going! Boys, move out!" I thought I could lose Teddy in the chaos of getting outside, since the first round of drinks had made everyone unsteady and we all staggered out into the London street. Unfortunately, he wasn't done with me.

"Look, mate, I'm sorry to hear about your ex," he said once I had finally wrangled everyone into somewhat walking down the street (and I say somewhat since most of them were singing with their arms around each other, swinging off lamp posts and snapping photos of each other making love to road signs). "That Sophie girl, right?"

"Yeah … how'd you know that?"

"Well, you talk to Al," Teddy grinned. "Rose talks to me."

"Oh."

"Oh?" Teddy snorted. "Is that all you're going to give me?"

"What am I supposed to tell you?" I said, trying to control my voice. "I'm trying to make things right with Rose, that's all there is to it."

"So you finally pulled your head out of your arse long enough to see it?" Teddy smirked, letting Hugo steady himself on his shoulder as Hugo danced across a street bench.

"Oi! Shut up!" I retorted, pointing out the direction of the next pub for the boys. "What the hell do you know?"

"A hell of a lot, Scorpius," Teddy nudged my shoulder. "I married a part-Veela, mate. The amount of boys who loved her … I know what jealousy looks like and I know you were trying to use it with Sophie."

"Yeah?" I said defiantly. "Well, it doesn't matter what you make me out to be, because that's all over! I've figured things out now and Rose is all that matters!"

"Prove it then," Teddy said through a slight smile. "We know you love her, so actually _celebrate_ your best friend's wedding! He knows how you feel and he needs you tonight."

"Fine!" I yelled. Then, I called out louder to the boys, "HEY! NEXT ROUND'S ON ME! LET'S SEND AL OFF WITH SOME STYLE!"

* * *

Ok, I'll admit that that was when things sort of went hazy. I remembered reaching the second pub and I remembered buying drinks for everyone, but after that, my night turned into a colourful and wild blur with a lot of singing, photo-taking and checking stuff off Al's checklist t-shirt. But there was one moment of the night that I remembered very vividly and it probably had something to do with the huge tattooed guy punching me in the face.

Oh, hang on, I think I'm getting too far ahead of myself …

I thought it was roughly around one in the morning when we reached the nightclub. How we ended up at a nightclub when we were supposed to be on a pub crawl was beyond me, but I'd had far too many drinks by that point to even care. I was laughing with my arm around one of Al's work friends, having a cheerful conversation about penguins. Al was twirling and dancing away, despite the fact that he can't dance to save his life and nearly decapitated some poor bloke with his flying elbow. Hugo had taken control of the camera, since Louis was already copping off with some girl right in the middle of the dance floor and Fred had disappeared about an hour ago after meeting a girl at our fourth pub. In fact, I didn't even realise the significance of the nightclub until I saw Rose.

I could barely see things straight and I'm fairly certain that things aren't supposed to move when you're standing still, but Rose was so bloody clear that, for a moment, I thought I had randomly sobered up in less than five seconds. It vaguely registered in my head that we had somehow made our way to the club where the hens night was happening and that Al had probably diverted us here on purpose so he could see his soon-to-be-bride, but I didn't care. Because Rose was dancing with some bloke I had never seen before, his tongue practically shoved down her throat.

"Whoa, mate!" Al's work friend said when I stopped dead and he realised what I was looking at. "I know, right? That's so hot …"

"Who the hell IS that guy?!" I yelled. I quickly withdrew my arm and began pushing my way through the crowd.

"It's fine, there's nothing to be ashamed of, mate! I'll be getting myself off as well after seeing that!" Al's friend yelled after me, but it didn't even register. The only thing that mattered was that the huge burly bloke with the eyebrow piercing and skull tattoo had his hands on Rose's arse and that he was snogging her fiercely.

"Hey!" I yelled once I was within earshot and could be heard if I screamed really loudly over the heavy techno music. I shoved on the bloke's shoulder and made him stumble backwards, causing him to yell and Rose to yank herself away.

"What the HELL?!" she shouted. Then, she noticed me. "SCORPIUS?! WHAT–?"

"OI!" The bloke seemed to have recovered, which I realised about two seconds later when Rose suddenly launched herself at him

She kneed him right in the balls. "THAT'S for the tongue!" she screamed.

Oh, god, she was just bloody _perfect_. The bloke's eyes flashed as he squeaked and doubled over. I had just been about to pull Rose away, when I saw him straighten and his fist flew –

I stepped in without thinking. Rose's scared face just seared into my mind and I threw myself in front of her, the bloke's fist smashing into my face. I yelled, nearly falling flat onto the grotty club floor as Rose screamed at the both of us. "Who the hell d'you think you are–?!" the bloke shouted.

"That's my girlfriend, you bastard!" I roared back, ignoring Rose's shrieks. I had a hand over the painful throbbing in my cheek, but I managed to glare, which I thought was pretty brave of me, considering that the bloke was probably about five times my size. I vaguely recognised that I'd called Rose my girlfriend, but let's face it, that's a minor concern at this point.

"Well, sorry mate, if I tried to keep track of who's taken, we'd be here all night!" the bloke yelled back. "So why don't you piss of back to your little bitch party–!" He shoved me back hard and I staggered. I caught a look of the bloke grabbing hold of Rose's arm and I just snapped. I went to throw a punch and –

* * *

"… ughhh …" I moaned, trying to roll over and finding myself unable to. My head was pounding and it didn't help that there was a tinny voice shrieking in the background.

"What the HELL did you think you were doing?!" Rose's voice pierced through my head rather painfully. "Seriously what the hell possessed you think that lashing out at that bloke was ever a good idea?! Are you really that STUPID?!"

"… what the hell happened?" I groaned, glancing up. I realised that I was sat on the street, slumped against the wall of the club, a very angry Rose pacing up and down in front of me. She wore a purple party dress that I didn't even know that she owned, with a matching sash that claimed she was Maid of Honour.

"I'll TELL you what the hell happened!" Rose screamed at me, bending down so she could pull me roughly to my feet. I yelped and cringed at the sudden movement, my head threatening to split open. "You tried to take a punch at that bloke and he just knocked you completely out cold! You were passed out on the floor within five seconds and I had to drag your sorry arse out of the club so you wouldn't get _flattened_! Do you realise how incredibly IDIOTIC you are?! It's bad enough that you crashed our hens night, but then you try and get yourself bloody KILLED?! You scared me half to death!"

"I …" I swayed and had to grab hold of Rose's shoulder for support. She didn't look happy about it, but grabbed hold of my arm, keeping me standing, for which I was grateful. "I tried to …"

"Take on a five hundred pound boxer who probably eats little girls like you for breakfast? Yes! That's exactly what you did!" Rose cried.

"I … no," It was sort of starting to come back to me now … or at least my pounding head was making me realise something had indeed happened. "I tried to protect you …"

Something in Rose's face changed. She stared at me for a moment, looking positively ecstatic and shocked at the same time, like she couldn't believe her ears. Then, just when I thought she was going to say all was forgiven, pronounce me a hero and/or give me a kiss for my wounds, she opened her mouth and said,

"Oh."

Yeah. Just 'oh'.

My life is bloody _nuts_.

Conclusion to hellish stag dos and getting into a fight because of Rose Weasley:

-I don't think I'm _ever_ going to live this down. James is going to tease me for life.

-Next time there's a stag do, I am NOT drinking. Maybe then I could have kept a leash on the rest of the boys and we might not have ended up at the club in the first place.

-Hell, I am _so_ still in love with Rose Weasley and I think I always will be.

-And y'know what? I am _definitely_ ok with that.

Scorpius: 21, Rose: 23.

(I got my arse kicked, there really is no competition here).

* * *

A/N: Oh, Scorpius. I always knew I wanted a chapter from Scorpius's POV, since I did it for GIR and I loved writing this SO much. I seriously hope you all liked this!

The next chapter will go back to Rose and she will recount her version of the hens night. :)

As always, THANK YOU for the reviews! You're all simply amazing! I'm sure you will have something to say to this, you never cease to tell me what you think.

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	31. The Fantastic One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, hens nights, emotional breakdowns or giant tattooed guys.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 30: The Fantastic One.

I swear, at some point in my life, I had been normal. I'm thinking perhaps when I was born? Then, roughly minutes later, I was introduced to the Weasley family and my life just decided to skew off wildly on a tangent and it went insane. How the _hell_ did I end up standing in a London street outside a nightclub, holding a very drunk and semi-conscious Scorpius after he attempted to beat up some random bloke five times his size to defend my honour?

Hang on, I think I can answer this … let me back up to this morning.

* * *

"God, I hate him!" I yelled in annoyance, striding through the front door of my flat. I barely even registered the fact that Al and Bea were there, just thundered right past them and into my bedroom, slamming the door behind me for good measure. I flopped face down onto my bed with a moan. I didn't look up, even when Bea tentatively knocked on the door and called, "Rosie? You ok?" When Bea just waltzed right on in and plonked herself down next to me, I _still_ didn't move. If I don't move, then I can't freak out about this morning.

And trust me, no one wants to see that.

"Rosie, I have to be sent off into married life in style tonight," Bea eventually said after I refused to say anything. "You better not be trying to one-up me."

"Oh, god …" I couldn't help it. I looked up to see my best friend giving me a very sceptical look. "Bea … I am so stupid, sometimes … honestly, I don't know what the hell went through my head."

"Who'd you murder?" Bea asked, flatly.

"No one," I said, dragging myself upright. When I faced Bea, I knew that this was one of those moments where I had to tell her _everything_, even the gory details that under normal circumstances should be left to the imagination. This was an all or nothing situation. If I kept this to myself, I'd go insane.

So …

"Bea, I slept with Scorpius."

Her eyes went as wide as Galleons. "You WHAT?!" she yelled.

"I know, I know!" I cried.

"But you … you just … _Scorpius_?"

"I _know_," I said again. "See?! This is what happens when you just take off in the middle of a film because you can't handle a few weeks of no sex!"

Bea's expression was a strange one; half shocked, half giggly. "I … er, take it you noticed?"

"You left the bloody door open, it wasn't exactly _subtle_."

"Oh, look, we're going to spend the rest of our lives together, I don't think it makes that much difference whether we wait or not, when we're married it's going to be a whole new level of amazing anyway. Besides, Al wasn't hard to convince," Bea managed to get a glazed look in her eyes, but after a moment, she seemed to snap back to reality and said, "No! Hang on, this is about _you_! How the _hell _did you end up sleeping with Scorpius?!"

"It's rather complicated," I admitted. "Tell me, Bea, honestly; it's not _that_ bad, right?"

"I … well, I guess it depends," Bea said, eventually. "How did you leave it?"

"Erm …" I cringed at the memory. "I sort of got pissed off and yelled at him before slamming the door in his face."

"Ah," Bea grimaced. "Ok. Er, it's ok, this is fixable …"

"Really?"

She snorted. "Oh, HELL no!" Bea cried. "Girl, you're bloody SCREWED!"

"_Fantastic_," I said. Ok, I _swear_, I hadn't exactly woken up this morning thinking, 'Right! I'm going to tell Scorpius I love him and that we should give it another shot!' My thought patterns had been more along the lines of, 'Oh my god, oh my god, _I slept with Scorpius_!'

But the thing was, this morning had actually somehow turned out for the better. I'm not saying that we couldn't have had better timing; but hell, it happened, we can't take it back now and why the bloody hell would I want to? I'd loved it. I loved him. I knew he was worried, for going with what he wanted, rather than what he thought was right, but the thing was, it didn't even _matter_. He was trying to fix things and that was all I needed. Telling me that he was going to stay away was what we had both needed to hear at the time, but now, what we wanted had changed. Things change, people change.

People fall back in love, even when they weren't really out of it in the first place.

With a smile that I tried and failed to conceal, I looked up at Bea. "We're getting back together," I said about as casually as possible.

Bea gave a ridiculous gasp as she stared at me for a moment. Then, far from the loving hug I expected, she shoved me out of the way so she could leap off my bed and run into the hallway. "AL!" she yelled. "AL! IT'S HAPPENED! ROSE AND SCORPIUS, YOU OWE ME TWENTY GALLEONS! AAAAAAL!"

I just laughed as I heard her thump around, looking for her dear fiancé. I took the time to start looking for a new change of clothes, seeing as I was still in my clothes from yesterday. I never realised how _embarrassing_ that was.

"He's gone," Bea grumbled, stomping back into my room and throwing herself back down next to me on my bed, grabbing my new t-shirt and lobbing it at my head. "Probably to check on Scorpius. He's going to try and cheat me out of my winnings, I just know it!"

"Don't get your hopes up, you never let me finish!" I told her.

"Oh, brilliant," Bea said. "What else happened? Did he have a heart attack and fall into a coma?"

"No, though that might have been safer for him in the long run," I sighed. I was frustrated with him for holding off, but it was always at myself when I remembered that he was right to do so. "Bea, we still have so much shit to get through. I love him, and I told him, but even though he kissed me back, he still said that we needed to wait until we could sort everything. Until we could talk, talk to Sophie, get over ourselves. I was sort of all for screwing it all and just leaping back in then and there, but he reminded me that there was stuff to do and I _kind of_ got mad."

"As you usually do," Bea pointed out.

"Exactly," I grinned despite myself. "But, Bea, _we're getting back together_. Maybe not now, but he said after the wedding. We'll just get through the next two days without thinking about each other and once you and Al are jetting off to the Caribbean or Greece or wherever the hell you're going for your honeymoon, then we'll sort it out."

For a moment, Bea didn't say anything and I just proceeded to change into my new clothes. It wasn't until I was tugging a fresh t-shirt down when I heard a sniff and I pulled back my hair to see Bea barely holding it together.

"… Bea, are you trying not to _cry_?"

"No! I'm fine!" she insisted, but she swiped at her eyes anyway. "Rosie, I'm just so proud of you!"

"Steady on," I laughed.

"No, I'm serious!" The moment I had sat down next to her again, she tugged on my shoulders and threw her arms around them. "Rose, I know you've been through hell this year so far and I know at times you gave up. But I want to tell you that I'm _damn proud of you_ for getting through it. Sometimes I think Al and I went too hard on you; Scorpius was an idiot about the whole thing and we often took his side as well. We weren't very sympathetic to you in the end."

"Look at you, apologising for the both of you," I grinned over her shoulder, hugging her back. "It's like you're married already!"

Bea laughed, pulling away so she could look me in the eyes. "I'm serious, Rosie."

"Bea, it's fine. Scorpius is your friend, too."

"But you're my girl!" Bea insisted. She squeezed my hands then, adding, "It can't have been easy to forgive him."

"Oh, you know," I shrugged. "I figured killing him would be too messy, so …"

"All the same," Bea said. "This has never been a matter of _what_ happened. It's been about _who _happened. Rose, it was _Scorpius_. The boy you've been in love with for god knows how many years. I knew you'd never really get over him, I never doubted you for a second! Al on the other hand, well, there's a reason he now owes me big time."

"Doesn't it _terrify_ you, though?" I asked her. Then, I actually considered, and I added, "What the hell am I saying? I'm talking to the girl who's getting married tomorrow! … ok, consider this," I said after a moment's thought. "Bea, like you said, we're supposed to be together, and now, I think it's _always_ supposed to be me and Scorpius. And yeah, while I've always wanted to get married and have kids and stuff, isn't it just a little bit terrifying that I've got all that at 23 years old?"

"We're some of the lucky ones, Rosie," Bea just shrugged. "I'll admit though, I went a bit mental when I realised that with Al. Went out on a bender and everything. You might remember … the reception for Mrs Malfoy's funeral?"

"Holy shit, is _that_ what that was about?" I said, eyes wide.

It had almost been two years ago now since Astoria Malfoy had passed away and I still remembered every detail of her funeral practically burned into my brain. After I'd finally managed to get Scorpius there in the first place, I had thrown all my efforts into keeping him together. I hadn't even focused on myself until the subdued reception dinner we'd had at the Malfoy's manor house. Scorpius had looked somewhat ok sitting next to his father, so I had just been about to find somewhere outside to get away, when Bea had come roaring up to me.

"Rosie!" she had said, happily. "What's with the doom and gloom? This is the part where we celebrate Mrs Malfoy's life!"

"Bea – are you _drunk_?" I had said, astonished.

As it turns out, Bea had gone through an entire bottle of wine herself and was _blind_ drunk. I had tried to get Al to take her home, but she had insisted on Al not finding out, running around the house to distract me and eventually bursting into tears. We'd never talked about the incident since then and I'd always just assumed it was a combination of grief for Astoria and stress from trying to keep Al and Scorpius happy, even though it had seemed a little out of place.

I couldn't _believe_ this was coming out now. "Bea," I said to my guilty-looking best friend. "You've got to explain this to me _now_."

"Look, I have a writer mind," she began. "When something like that happens, I start to make up all sorts of scenarios and ideas in my head. I started imagining what it would have been like if Mrs Potter died and it was Al who was going through that, not Scorpius. I still feel guilty today for being glad that it wasn't. But I started thinking and getting more stressed and that was about when I realised that even if it _did_ happen, I would do whatever it took to make Al laugh again. Because _he was it_ for me and I was never letting go, no matter what happened. And that scared the flipping _shit _out of me. So I'll admit, I hit the wine a bit too hard," she added, smiling slightly.

"An understatement."

"We _really_ don't need to get into the details," Bea said back.

"God, Bea," I said, shaking my head. "If _that's _what you did when you realised … I'm a bit frightened for myself now, to be honest."

"Oh, be frightened," Bea assured me. "Because no matter what you tell yourself, it's _going_ to freak you out. But you're in love, the _real_ kind, and that's enough to send anyone crazy."

* * *

In the end, I was almost dreading the hens night, despite the fact that I would be out partying the night away, celebrating my best friend getting married tomorrow. The thing was, Sophie was coming, and I had no idea what the hell I was supposed to do when I saw her. I mean … we'd sort of come to terms with this, but did she really need to hear it from me? Hell, if our roles had been reversed, I wouldn't even _want_ to know! But she was my friend and I didn't like the thought of spending the entire night together while also keeping something this huge from her.

The girls started showing up from around five, arriving in clumps; Libby and Jo together, already slightly tipsy from 'before shots' with Harley arriving just behind them; the latter was looking at me with an exasperated look, a step up from the daggers she usually shot me, so I considered it a plus; a couple of Bea's friends from work, who delighted in bitching about their horrible boss, Monica Dodge, with Bea; and several of my family members who wanted to send their soon-to-be-cousin-in-law off the Weasley way, including Victoire, Dom, Molly, Lucy and Roxanne. Pretty soon our entire flat was full of giggly girls and glasses flying as bottles of wine were passed around. It wasn't long before we were all well and truly ready for a good time. However, the night's amazements weren't over yet; a surprise guest came flying out of our fireplace around seven, already in a vibrant party dress and with a bottle of tequila in her hands.

Of course, it could only be Lily Potter.

"LL!" we all shrieked and to my surprise, the first person Lily flung her arms around was Bea. Shocked, Bea hugged her back with a grin. "I didn't think you were coming until tomorrow!" she said.

"And miss a party?" Lily cried. "Hell no! I wasn't skipping out on this! Rosie!" she added, releasing Bea to throw her choke-hold around me. "How are you?!"

"I'd say fine, but it's a _really_ long story," I admitted, squeezing Lily tight. "I'll honestly explain later. It's wonderful to see you again. You back in England now?"

"Got back this morning, yeah!" Lily said, stepping back so she could hug and squeal with the rest of our cousins. "To be honest, I've never looked at London from a tourist's perspective before, so I think we'll have fun seeing the sights!"

"So does this mean we _finally_ get to meet these 'boys' of yours?" Dom asked as she got her hug. "From what I've heard, they're pretty hot …"

Lily snorted. "I'm afraid most of them stayed back home, Dom. One is here, but _no_, you cannot flirt with him."

"Aw, c'mon, LL, if he's got an accent–"

"I said _no_," Lily laughed. While her face seemed good-natured, I noticed a hint of something else in it; something almost territorial. I had opened my mouth to question her, when Lily shook it off, accepting Victoire's hug before saying, "Enough about me, how about we get this party started, girls?"

I decided to drop it as she raised her tequila in the air and everyone cheered. As Victoire moved to talk to her sister and the cheers died away, the front door opened once more and Sophie arrived. The second I saw her, I practically dove behind Libby, my friend giving me a weird look.

"Erm, Rosie–?" she began to ask, but I shoved her back around.

"No, I'm not here!" I hissed. "I'm hiding!"

"It's not really working, considering that you're about five inches taller than me …"

"You're not hiding from Sophie, are you?" Jo asked, confused. She was blatantly talking to me with her back turned. Seriously, with these two around, it was a wonder that they could ever do _anything_ secretive. "I thought you two were friends now?"

"We are! … it's kind of complicated. I'll explain later."

"You said that before," Libby said. "Why do I get the feeling that this 'later' is going to be 'never'?"

I chose to ignore that, but it was clear I couldn't completely ignore Sophie (if my efforts of hiding behind Libby were any indication). So I gave her a hasty hello, before busying myself with trying to wrangle the girls into getting out the door and on the way to London's nightlife. Unfortunately, Bea and all her mates seemed more interested in bitching and getting drunk right here in the flat. "Aw, c'mon, Rosie!" she said, throwing her arm around me when I tried to get her to inspire everyone to leave. "Have a drink! Relax! I'm getting married!"

She certainly looked it; her pink party dress already had accidental spots of wine on it and the veil one of her work friends, Harriet, had stuck on her head was lopsided. The sash she wore said, '_Future Mrs Potter_!'

I just sighed. "Bea, remember, we had a battle plan? Leave early so there's no chance that–"

"Why, hello everyone!"

I swear, that voice deserves to be accompanied by screeching violins and hacksaws. I swore under my breath as Annie 'Queen Godzilla' Bowmen turned up, looking like she was about to go work at a strip club, rather than celebrate her sister's hens night. Seriously, our entire night was about to go up in flames and we weren't even out the door yet! The plan had been to leave straight away before Queen Godzilla could even get here, so we wouldn't have to live through the torture of her trying to take over my job of running the night and pretending to cheer her on when she got off with some bloke about half her age.

"Bea, sweetie!" Queen Godzilla cried, shoving Lily aside to kiss her sister on the cheek. "Are you ready to celebrate the end of your single life? I know I am!"

"Yeah, because she's never going to get to do it herself …" Harriet muttered to one of her friends.

"Annie, get me out of here!" Bea cried happily, so drunk by this point she didn't even care that her sister had shown up. "I love Al, but I do NOT want to remember anything in the morning!"

"… Bea, you're not _intoxicated_ are you?" Queen Godzilla gasped.

"The only way to suffer through this," Lily grumbled and Jo snorted into her drink.

"What? _Nooo_," Bea insisted, though the fact that her face was pink and she was leaning on her sister's shoulder heavily said otherwise. "I'm just gearing myself up for the night! What're we doing first?"

"Well–" I began, but of course Queen Godzilla cut me off.

"The entire night will be _perfect_!" she said, excitedly. "First, we have dinner at Hannigans, that restaurant we love out near where Dad works! Then, things will get pretty wild when we …" She seemed to pause for a dramatic effect. "… _play charades_!"

"She's not serious, right?" Harley muttered.

"I think she is …" Libby whispered back.

Bea just raised an eyebrow at her. "… what?" she asked.

"I know!" Queen Godzilla acted like this was the most fun we would ever have and that she _wasn't_ planning a 90th birthday party. "Then, we are going to go ballroom dancing!"

"That's about the closest we've gotten to a proper hens night," Harriet pointed out. "I say we take that as our final offer, we aren't going to get any better."

"Will there at least be hot blokes there?" Bea asked.

Queen Godzilla laughed. "Oh, Bea, you're so funny! Why would we have _men_ at a hens party? We'll do role-playing! We did it at my best friend, Isabella's, hens party!"

"Don't tell me … you weren't invited?" Dom muttered and Victoire had to stifle a laugh into Molly's shoulder.

"… let me understand," Bea tried to focus on her sister's face in confusion. "It is my last night as an unmarried woman. Traditionally, I am supposed to get completely trashed and celebrate my freedom with my girls … and you're saying that there won't even be any hot dancers?!"

"Trust me, baby sis," Queen Godzilla said in that patronising tone of her, flipping her blond hair over her shoulder with a smile that made me want to stab her in the eyes. "This will be an amazing night, you'll see!"

Bea turned immediately to me. "_Get her out of here_!" she mouthed frantically.

I was way ahead of her. In between knocking back some of Lily's tequila, I was busy summoning cling-film from the kitchen. Queen Godzilla would never know what hit her.

* * *

"I can't believe you actually wrapped her in cling-film to a lamppost!" Molly cried, grabbing my hand and punching it into the air. "Good riddance, Queen Godzilla!"

"I think I can still hear her screams!" I laughed.

"BRING ON THE STRIPPERS!" Bea called into the street and the rest of the girls cheered. We were practically skipping down the street in a huge mob that I'm sure I might have worried about in another state of mind. But currently, Lily's tequila had set my head on sideways and I was starting not to care about anything! So what if I slept with Scorpius? All things considered, it seemed to be working out! As for getting through this with my mates, well, that's nothing a little tequila can't fix! And let's face it, with the mates I have, this could be the only hens night I ever attend, so I might as well make the most of it.

I followed the ladies in dancing and twirling down the street. Bea was right in front of me, her arms around Libby and Victoire and looking like she was having the time of her life. Harriet and her work friends were currently having what looked like an exciting conversation with Molly about hair dye as my cousin-Lucy, talked to Harley-Lucy about what appeared to be their favourite bands. I figured that someone really must have gotten my cousin drunk, since Lucy _hated_ music and, if she had her way, wouldn't have been dragged out to a hens night at all; she'd be curled up in bed with her husband and a good book.

It was an image that I had to admit wasn't half bad.

My youngest cousin, Roxanne, was currently swinging off my arm and jabbering on about her latest boyfriend and how awesome he was. As much as I loved her, I was glad when Lily joined us and got Roxanne talking to Dom instead, who was currently trying to convince Sophie that it would be a good idea to run naked through the fountain in the middle of the square we were currently making our way across. I accidentally caught Sophie's eye and I smiled with a wave before quickly ducking behind Lily which worked about as well as it had back in our flat.

"… Rosie, what're you doing?"

I normally might have made up an excuse, but instead, I said, "Hiding from Sophie!"

"Why?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter," I tried to wave it off, despite the fact that I was still bending down and in terrible danger of completely keeling over. "Silly things. You've been busy in New Zealand, so I haven't bothered to mention it."

"Mention it now!"

"Look, it's not a _big deal_," I insisted, standing up to throw an arm around Lily's shoulders. "So I _may_ have accidentally slept with Scorpius, it's _fine_! You got any more tequila?"

"You SLEPT WITH SCORPIUS?!" Lily shrieked.

I frantically shushed her. "_Lily_! She's drunk, not deaf! Sophie shouldn't hear about this, not from me, not before we talk to her!"

"Rosie!" Lily continued to look shocked. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't and it was hot …?" I said, weakly.

"For god's sake!" Lily threw her hands in the air. "I just can't leave you alone! Don't tell me, I'm going to have to stay and live here just to keep you in line!"

"Look, LL, I did something stupid, when haven't I?" I said. "You don't have to give up your life for me. Unless, y'know, you want to," I laughed at that. Lily had been travelling for the better part of three years and not once had she shown signs of slowing down.

However, when I mentioned it, Lily's face sort of … cringed. Like she was worried about something I had said. I stared for a moment, my tequila-logged brain taking a moment to click. When it did, my eyes went wide and I asked, "Lily Potter … you _want_ to move back to England?!"

"I never said that!" Lily said, hastily. "It's just …" She hesitated, glancing up at the city buildings around us. Living here, I think I sometimes take London for granted; it truly is a magnificent city and I loved it. I couldn't ever imagine moving away for good. Apparently, neither could Lily. "Rosie, I've seen the whole _world_," she began, softly. "and … I dunno, I'm sort of starting to think that Dave and I could give a somewhat-normal life a shot," She shrugged. "But, y'know, it's '_no big deal'_."

"Don't use my words against me!" I said, dramatically. Then I realised what she had said and I added, "Wait, you and _Dave_? That bloke you picked up from New Zealand?"

Amazingly, Lily actually grinned. "He's brilliant, Rosie. Did I tell you I met him on the bus to Sydney? He wanted to get away from his mates for a bit and we ended up talking the entire six hours!"

"But …" I forced my brain to consider this. "You hate love!"

"I don't _hate_ love!" Lily said, exasperatedly. "I've just never believed in it! And I'm not saying this is love or anything … but I kind of want to see if it could be, y'know?"

"No," I admitted. "In fact, I'm kind of considering whether you've been high-jacked by some clone who is trying to trick us all into thinking you're in a committed relationship!"

"Whoa, ok, I wouldn't go _that_ far," Lily said at once. Still my cousin, under all that. "I mean, why label things?"

"Fine, you are in a fun, non-labelled, commitment-free relationship that may or may not go somewhere someday," I said, rolling my eyes. "Can I just ask, what changed your mind?"

Lily seemed to think for a moment. "Look, Rosie, as much as I wish it was true, you can't live the high life forever," she told me. "Things run out, people come and go, experiences are gained, everything ends and everything changes. Eventually, you've got to just _stop_ and ask yourself what the hell you're doing. When that happens … things start going right."

Something in Lily's words hit me. She didn't just speak of her experiences overseas. _Anyone_ could relate to her words. Lily smiled at me and I ended up grinning back; I knew that look on her face, in her eyes. I saw it in Al whenever he looked at his fiancée. I saw it in James whenever he spoke about Libby. It seemed Lily was the last Potter heart to be taken and, no matter what she thought herself, it had been stolen completely.

"I've never heard finer words." I said, insanely proud of her. It wouldn't have been easy to let herself love Dave.

"Thank you," she said, still smiling. "But Dave and I talked, because he's always wanted to live in England! I think we're going to move here, after the wedding."

"I thought you said you were fun and non-committed?"

"We are … doesn't mean two fun and non-committed friends can't live together," Lily answered, still with that smile.

"Does he know about the whole … y'know, magic-witch thing?"

"Gave him a bloody heart attack," Lily nodded. "Was forced to turn him into a deer in order to make him believe me! But pretty soon he was asking me to change the colour of his nose and send furniture flying around the room, so I think he's pretty cool with it. One day it'll hit you, too, Rosie," she added with a smirk. "You'll discover that you want more than the life you have now. I would have thought your thing with Scorpius would have made you see that …"

"Should've seen that one coming," I muttered. "Look, forget Scorpius for a moment: you had better tell this Dave that he had better start preparing himself for a Weasley bashing, because I'm going to scare him to hell and back over you. If I don't send him running, he'll be all yours."

"While most girls would be annoyed at the thought of their cousins threatening their significant others, from you, it's only sweet," Lily said, only with a touch of sarcasm.

"I do try."

"So … seriously," Lily said, her smirk growing now. "What's going on with you and Scorpius, now? Don't tell me – you haven't talked about it?"

Up until this point, I don't think it had really hit me just how far Scorpius and I had come over the past year. This time 12 months ago, or hell, even 6 months ago, that probably would have been true. But we'd come a long way since then and even though it scared me, it was with great satisfaction to cause the look of astonishment on Lily's face when I answered,

"Actually, I told him I loved him."

"You WHAT?!" Lily yelped.

"You really need to stop screaming, LL."

"You can't just spring something like that on me and expect me not to scream!" Lily countered, too busy staring at me that she tripped over the gutter as we all crossed the road. "Rose! You … you actually talked about something serious?"

"I was just as surprised as you," I told her. "At first, I was all for pretending it never happened … but he was trying to push me away again, trying to tell me that it was all wrong and that he was through and, hell, I wasn't having it anymore! Something inside me just snapped and I bashed sense into him. I told him I loved him. And, LL, I think we're going to work this out."

We managed to get all the way to the other side of the road before Lily spoke again. "I've never heard you talk so confidently about Scorpius before today."

"We were so young when we got together, LL," I shrugged. "In a way, we've spent the last six years trying to grow up. We spent so long getting everything wrong and screwing up that I worried about ever getting things right. But now, I've stopped worrying. We're Rose and Scorpius and who cares? We can be wrong, because that somehow works for us."

"Rosie," Lily was tugging me to the edges of our group, letting the rest of the girls pull away as they danced towards the nearest nightclub on the corner, Bea still calling out about those strippers. "While I admire your confidence, there's something I want to mention. You once before thought Scorpius was wrong for you. Remember that day you and I stood outside the joint common room for over an hour? You deliberated back and forth about going in there and telling Scorpius how you felt. You thought it was all wrong, but do you know what that day was in the end?"

I decided to humour her and ask, "What?"

"It was the day you got together," she said, simply. "All I can really tell you, Rosie, is to seriously think about it before you decide that you're all wrong. Oh, and drink more tequila. There's no way we're getting through this night with a clear head."

* * *

By the time Lily and I caught up to the girls in the club, it was to find Bea at the bar, demanding that the bartender give her liquor and hot men, not necessarily in that order. While Libby was currently dancing on a table, the rest of the girls had taken to the packed dance floor, shaking their dresses and causing every single person within five feet to look up as they cheered when Bea screamed that they were getting some kind of shots. Lily was already running unsteadily to our group and I tried to decide how I was feeling. I just wanted a break from the intense emotions and after several seconds of finding it impossible, I decided that the obvious and best decision here was to go and get so drunk that I completely forgot that Scorpius existed.

And it worked! That is, until Sophie asked me to dance.

"Rosie!" she called over the deafening music. "Rose! Come dance with me?"

"Only if you bring your best moves!" I cried, happily. I took Sophie's hands without thinking and span her around. She laughed, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. Either she wasn't having a good time at all, or she was about to throw up all over me and let's face it, I have already had first-hand experience with that.

And that was about when Sophie pulled me towards her and leaned towards my ear so I could hear her properly without having to scream.

"I know about you and Scorpius," she said, her voice void of emotion.

I froze. Despite the sea of moving people around me, I felt like all the alcohol in my system had been suddenly flash-frozen. Oh, god, oh, god, what the hell do I say?!

I pulled back, suddenly afraid to have her teeth so close to my neck. With her hands still holding my wrists, I was uncertain as to whether she would want my death to be slow and painful, or quick and violent. Merlin's beard, Rosie, nothing you say can make this better, so say something!

"Oh … lord," I said. "Sophie, look, I didn't–"

"It's fine," Sophie said. "Rose … I told you I was ok with this and I wasn't lying. I want you to be happy."

"You …" I said, weakly. There were no words that would do her justice. "Sophie, you're amazing. And I want you to know, I _never_ meant to hurt you."

"I know," Sophie said, softly. "You're a good person, Rosie, and I believe you. Yes, it might hurt a bit, but I don't want you to ever be sorry. You're _not_ sorry, are you?"

I was sorry about the timing. Sorry that we had added all this drama on top of the wedding. But sorry Scorpius and I actually figured something out? I wasn't sorry in the slightest and Sophie could easily tell that just by looking at my face.

"No way in hell," I answered.

She smiled and this time, it was genuine. "It might hurt and it might be best for all of us if I stay away from you and Scorpius for a while, but I want you to know that I've somehow grown to love you and there's no way I'm letting you get away that easily. I'm not losing you at all."

"I'm glad," I said, because I honestly was. I didn't realise how much I'd worried about losing her as a friend until now, but a sudden weight seemed to have lifted off me. I appreciated her words and loved her all the more for it.

"Scorpius actually came to talk to me today," she said, moving my hands and we started dancing again. "Burst into my office, yelling he was sorry! Seems to think he has a list of things he has to sort out before he can be with you."

"You were on the list?"

"He wanted to make things right, I think," Oh, Scorpius. I wasn't even surprised. Sophie gave me a knowing smirk then and said, "I want to make sure you realise it, Rosie, so I want to tell you … Scorpius is still so insanely in love with you."

Oh, I knew it. But hearing it come from Sophie was a completely different experience. Hearing it from someone else, someone who wasn't my best friend or related to me, it gave it a sense of _real_. And it came from Sophie, who I trusted just as much as Bea or Al. It made my heart splutter.

"I think I'm starting to get a good picture, yeah," I answered her, eventually.

Sophie pulled out, holding onto my hand, before I twirled her under my arm. The thumping techno song ended and was replaced with another thumping techno song, but it didn't matter. So long as people were dancing and having a good time, I considered this hens night to be a success.

"And I just want you to make me one promise," Sophie added and I nodded as she reached for my other hand and squeezed my fingers. "When you get back together, can you make it _spectacular_? I'd hate for this story to be boring!" I just stared at her, half amused, half shocked, as I nodded. She grinned and kissed me on the cheek, before turning and dancing off through the crowd of our friends. Bea hadn't even noticed the conversation we'd had; she was too busy grinding with Libby with a drink in her hand.

Did that seriously just happen?

Eventually, I figured that there was no point in stewing over it. Hell, Sophie was _happy_ for me! Tonight was Bea's night and tomorrow was going to be hers and Al's day; all my crazy drama could wait until after the wedding.

To this day, I don't really know how I ended up dancing with that huge tattooed bloke. One second, Bea's being danced around by our mates and I'm laughing with her and the next, this guy has pulled me onto the dance floor, has his hands on my arse and is telling me that he understood my pain of being the poor Maid of Honour and never getting married myself. Even completely drunk, I didn't buy one _word_ of his crap, but he didn't seem to want to take no for an answer. "Look, mate, I'm _really_ not interested–" I tried to say, but he pretty much cut over me by kissing me full on the mouth.

I mean, what the _hell_? He was just some random bloke whose name I didn't even know, and he was shoving his tongue down my throat! So shocked at first, I didn't even _do_ anything. In fact, it wasn't until later that I realised that despite the fact that I'd kissed someone roughly a million times in my 23 years, this was only the fourth person I'd ever actually kissed properly. The first had been, well, Scorpius. Then Trevor. Then there had been the whole Healer O'Dickface fiasco. Then it was, well, Scorpius again. And again and again up until this point and it was _horrifying_.

I didn't even see Scorpius coming. If I had, I would have been _screaming_ for him. Thankfully, the moment he yelled out, "Hey!" and shoved the bloke off me, I felt my heart practically leap into my throat in relief.

To be honest, I wasn't surprised at all when leaping to my honour only ended with Scorpius getting the crap beaten out of him. He might be lean and tall, but a muscle-man, Scorpius is not. Bea didn't even realise that Scorpius had gotten into a fight; she was too busy snogging Al, who for some reason had shown up, and didn't even care that her girls had taken to flirting with the other blokes from the stag do. I felt so useless, since I couldn't even do anything without getting hit as well! What the hell had he been _thinking_? He was going to get himself bloody killed! Thankfully, though, one of tattooed bloke's mates had intervened to stop him from all out murdering Scorpius. Unfortunately, with my friends so preoccupied, I got no help at all dragging Scorpius's sorry arse out of the club. I hastily thanked the mate and told tattoo bloke not to call, before hauling Scorpius's arm around my shoulder and dragging him through the crowd, seething with anger.

So that's how I ended up screaming at a semi-conscious Scorpius in a dingy alley outside a Muggle nightclub. It's kind of strange the way life seems to twist around. One minute I'm screaming at him for trying to take on a bloke about a hundred times his size and the next, he's saying that he was trying to protect me.

All my mind had been able to come up with was, "Oh." Just _oh_. One look at his desperate face and hazy expression told me that he meant it, despite the fact that he could barely stand. And in that moment, I figured that there really was no way I could ignore the fact that I was still in love with him. The idiot had taken on a bloody giant for me!

"Scorpius, you are _extremely_ stupid sometimes, you know that, right?" I asked, quietly.

"You've only told me every day since I met you," he said, weakly.

"Look, how drunk are you?" I asked him, shaking my head. "I've got to get you home somehow and despite the action of the past five minutes, I don't think it was quite enough to shake the tequila out of my system. You can blame LL for that."

"She's back from New Zealand?"

"With a Muggle not-boyfriend and is apparently considering staying, but don't change the subject," I said, hastily. "Seriously, can you walk?"

"Hey, so drunk am I not!" Scorpius said. Then, he paused at his odd wording and added. "Ok, yeah, might have had one or two … dozen. Don't think Al will even notice if I leave, though."

"Yeah, how the hell did you lot end up here at the nightclub?" I asked, annoyed. "You crashed our hens night!"

"I dunno, thought Al must've figured out where you were going," Scorpius shrugged. "Toby mentioned something about a monster wrapped to a lamppost with cling-film, but he's completely pissed, so he was probably talking rubbish."

"Actually … oh, never mind," I just made sure that Scorpius's arm was firmly around my shoulders and that my arm around his waist was going to support him in getting home; we had a bit of a walk to do. "Let's just go before you start trying to fight anyone else."

"What d'you mean _try_?"

"Scorpius, you were out cold in ten seconds flat," I snorted, the two of us starting off down the road. "Face it, you lost that fight big time!"

"I was _trying_ to save you!" Scorpius told me, stumbling up the gutter as we crossed the road. It wasn't until we were nearly at the next block over from the nightclub when he said, quietly, "I talked to Sophie."

"I know," I said. "She told me."

"She said it was fine," Scorpius said with a half-hearted smile.

"Scorpius, I think you got insanely lucky with that girl," I pointed out. "Imagine if you had gone for the Queen Godzilla type? We'd be busy filing a restraining order!"

"… are you seriously making jokes about all this?"

"Oh," I considered. "I didn't even realise …"

"It's fine," Scorpius grinned hazily, like the punch to the face was still sending him slightly loopy. "I always loved that about you."

"You liked my _jokes_?" I asked, steering Scorpius towards the next corner. "I thought blokes normally like girl's sparkling personalities and smokin' hot bods, as Fred would say … actually, if we're talking Fred, forget the first one."

"Rose, as much as I appreciate your brash, irrational-ness, let's fun it, most of the time you annoy the crap out of me," Scorpius answered. "As for the second, you know I appreciate your _smokin' hot bod_," He gave me a look at that and I ended up laughing. "But it's not the only reason."

"Then what is?"

"You're incredible," Scorpius said simply. "You're wicked smart and always know when to call me out on being stupid. You love your books with an almost deadly passion. You're tall, pretty much the perfect height for me. You have such a fierce love for your family, despite the fact that you claim that you can't stand them and I've never seen two girls closer than you and Bea are. You're willing to accept your mistakes and learn from them, and you're not afraid to let new people into your life. You're irrational and tenacious and when we argue, you have _no_ idea how hot it is. Your hair … _god_, your hair," He paused for a moment, using his hand at my shoulder to twirl some of my curls around his fingers absently. "It's gorgeous and I love how you've never tried to change it, no matter how much you complain about it. You would drop _everything_ for your friends and throughout all we've been through, you've stuck by me. Especially when my mum died. _Rose_ …" he added, since I was staring at him. "Sometimes, I know you don't think you're special and in the grand scheme of things, you're not. Neither am I. We're just two idiots living in the world and we're both far from perfect, but I want you to know that you'll _always_ be special … as long as you're with me."

It appeared that his speech was finished since he went silent, staring resolutely ahead as he started painfully walking again. I hadn't even realised that I had paused. Where the hell had those words _come from_? It felt like they had just poured from his mouth and into my heart because as stupid as it sounds, warm and fuzzy didn't even cover it. How could I even _respond_ to that?

"I …" I started. "Scorpius … you …"

"Bloody hell, I've got a huge gob!" Scorpius suddenly laughed. "Merlin, why didn't you tell me to shut it?"

"Because as much as I hate you sometimes, I shudder to think what my life would have been like if I had never picked your compartment on that train," I answered, not accepting the idea of joking all that off. He glanced at me with a blazing expression that made me shiver right down to my toes. "Scorpius … you might be an arse, but you're _my_ arse, and I don't want that to _ever_ change."

* * *

The day of the wedding I had had a wonderful plan of rolling out of bed at seven in the morning, my hair a perfect mess of curls, my dress hung on the back of the door and poised ready to take on anything. Naturally, I actually woke up at about nine, still much too early for my liking considering the fact that I'd finally tumbled into bed around two in the morning. I practically fell out of bed, my hair pretty much covering my entire face and my dress was still crumpled at the bottom of my wardrobe like it had been yesterday.

My head felt like someone was throwing a bowling ball at it and I had Queen Godzilla to thank for that. I couldn't exactly remember what we'd done to get rid of her, but I was willing to bet that I should probably steer clear of her as much as possible today. I was_ this close _to snapping and killing someone and with any luck, it would be her.

It was just as I was running a hand through my hair, pulling it out of my eyes and rubbing my temple with a moan, that I realised that there was a weird noise coming from the lounge. Eyes narrowed, I stuck my head out of my bedroom door and saw that Bea was already up from the looks of her empty room and that whatever was happening in the lounge, it involved someone _crying_. I darted out, still in my pyjamas and trying not to vomit at the pain in my head, to see Bea sitting in the middle of the lounge floor. She was wearing her transfigured-apron pyjamas that I had forced her into when she had finally traipsed in around three this morning and seemed to be hugging her hands to her chest as she cried hysterically.

Oh, freaking hellfire.

"Bea?" I said hastily, dropping down next to her. She didn't even register my appearance, just continued to cry. "Bea! What in god's name is going on?!"

She glanced up, tears pouring down her face. "R-Rosie!" she cried, before throwing her arms around my neck. Completely bewildered and quite frankly, scared now, I sat back onto my knees, wondering what the hell had happened to make her this upset. Surely we hadn't forgotten about Queen Godzilla and accidentally left her to be killed by some muggers? No, as much as she's her sister, Bea would have at least been supported by the fact that she didn't have to suffer her sister's wedding planning from hell.

"Bea Bowmen, you are scaring me," I told my best friend. "What the _hell_ happened? Are you hurt?! What about Al? Is he ok?! Tell me–!"

"H-he's fine," Bea sobbed, still refusing to glance up. "I-I j-just … R-Rosie, I …"

"You what?! Bea, tell me!"

She finally glanced up. "I'm getting m-married today, Rosie!" she cried. "_Married_!"

"Last I checked, that was supposed to be a happy thing!" I said.

"I-I just–" Bea took a deep breath before letting out another sob. "I love Al, Rosie, I love h-him so m-much, but I'm getting bloody _married_! I-I can't–"

"Whoa, ok, YES, you CAN," I cut at once. "Bea–"

"N-no, Rosie!" Bea cut over me. She looked me straight in the eye and said, "I'm an _idiot_ if I th-thought this would ever w-work! I c-can't do it, I can't get _m-m-married_–"

I just stared at her in shock. "… tell me you're joking," I said, my throat going dry. "I'm serious, Bea, look me in the eye and tell me that you are joking, right now."

She just shook her head, more tears springing into her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Rosie!" she said, her voice breaking. "I know he's your cousin and everything, but I … I just can't do it!" And she broke down into sobs once more, burying her face into my shoulder.

Christ on a bike, we have an emergency. This is just bloody _fantastic_.

Conclusion to hens nights, ex's and emotional breakdowns:

-Sleeping with Scorpius? That's perfectly normal.

-_Sleeping with Scorpius_? Nearly gave me a heart attack.

-Bea freaking out about getting married is, of course, a nightmare, but Queen Godzilla being an idiot for forcing us to have the hens party the night before the wedding? Perfectly normal, too.

-My life going smoothly for a change? Now that _would_ give me a heart attack.

Rose: 24, Scorpius: 21.

(Despite the drama nothing short of a soap opera, Scorpius got himself knocked out by a boxer. I think the point for this one obviously goes to me).

* * *

A/N: We weren't going to get through this wedding without SOMEONE breaking down. Rosie will sort Bea out, don't worry!

Please note, I am smack in the middle of exam time at university and I have been going stir crazy with the study. If there are any obvious mistakes in this chapter, please point them out, because I have not had the time to go over it.

And THANK YOU for your reviews! I'm glad you all enjoyed Scorpius last chapter; you never seem to fail me with your comments, so please keep them coming! This story has been the only thing keeping me sane at the moment, after all. :)

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	32. The Wrong One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, weddings, fangs or Godzilla.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 31: The Wrong One.

Not only was I severely hung over, but Bea was currently in the throes of a mental breakdown. This was going to take some _serious_ skill to defuse.

"Bea …" I said eventually, sat on the floor with my current sobbing mess of a best friend. I rubbed her arm in a feeble attempt to comfort her. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Al!" she cried again. "I can't marry him, I just can't!"

I rubbed my eyes warily, trying not to yell. I was tired, my head hurt, I seriously needed a cup of tea and we didn't have bloody _time_ to get cold feet!

Time to knock some sense into her.

"Look, Bea, what the ever-loving _hell_ are you talking about?" I said. "Of course you can marry Al! That's all you've been going on about ever since you got engaged!"

Bea just shook her head once more, hiding her face into my shoulder. "No, Rosie!" she sobbed. "We'd … we'd be horrible together! I'd be a horrible wife! I can't cook, I hate cleaning, we've never even officially lived together and Al's so amazing and I'm just … Bea Bowmen, a model's little sister!"

"Don't you _dare_ compare yourself to Queen Godzilla!" I insisted. "I'll admit my memory of last night is rather hazy, but I get the feeling that you were actually cheering me on when we ditched her!"

"_Rosie_ …" Bea whispered into my shoulder. "I don't know how to be a wife. I don't know how to be married. I'm 23 years old! I've barely lived my life … I don't have a clue what I'm doing …"

I didn't know to answer that; mainly because she was pretty much right and I sort of wished that Al would just defy all wedding traditions and come over here to sort his fiancée out. Instead, I had to resort to threats. "Look, Bea, I love you, you know that, but if you don't get your act together and marry my cousin today, I _swear_ I'm going to–"

"Morning girls, we're here bright and early, ready for bridesmaid fun–! _Holy shit_, what the bloody hell happened?" Lily stared.

We must have been quite a sight, Bea and I on the floor. Libby and Jo were just behind Lily, glancing around her curiously. Honestly, I swear Lily drank most of the tequila last night and she's still as bright and perky as ever. I'll never understand that girl. She and my friends eyed the blubbering mess I currently held in my arms with concern and shock.

"Um …" I cast around for something that could explain this. "Bea's just a bit nervous …"

A massive understatement, but whatever.

The girls immediately seemed to realise what a mess we were in and instantly swarmed to Bea's side, wiping away her tears and saying comforting words. I had moments like these occasionally, where I would realise that my friends were all a bit mad, crazy and insane; but then, that was why they were amazing. I loved these guys to pieces.

"Rosie, what happened?" Libby asked me, glancing up in concern. "I can't get what she's saying!"

"I haven't seen her _this_ hysterical since the night before our NEWT potions exam, back in seventh-year," Jo agreed, patting Bea on the back.

"Yeah, this is slightly worse than that," I pointed out, squeezing Bea's shoulder. "I just woke up this morning to find her sitting here, crying her eyes out and now she's saying that she can't marry Al."

"What?!" all three girls exclaimed.

"Bea, that's crazy!" Jo cried.

"You love my brother!" Lily agreed. "Sometimes I wonder why, but you do!"

Bea just ignored them all, shaking her head and refusing to listen to reason. I didn't know what on earth to do! I _knew _how in love with my cousin Bea was, but for some reason, she seemed to have, I dunno, deemed herself not worthy or something! If I was being truly honest, though, I would have been surprised if she _didn't_ have some sort of meltdown. She was 23 and she was dedicating the rest of her life to a single person, putting all of her faith and trust in him. She was hardly the perfect housewife. But that was why Al loved her! And if Bea being not worthy of him wasn't the biggest load of bollocks, then I didn't know what was.

"Rosie, what the hell're we going to do?" Libby asked.

I was about to answer with 'no bloody idea', but that was when the phone rang. Confused, I left to answer it, trusting the girls to look after Bea on the floor for the time being.

"Hello?" I asked once I had picked it up, praying that it wasn't Queen Godzilla insisting that we come save her from wherever we had left her the night before.

"Healer Weasley?" Catie, the St Mungo's receptionist, asked. "It's Catie from work."

"Oh, hell," I said at once. "Don't tell me there's been another shop explosion?"

"No, not quite this time," Catie managed a laugh. "But I'm still afraid you're being called in. Shift ten till eight. Healer Williams is expecting you."

"Oh, no, no, no, _no_ …!" I cried, causing Lily, Libby and Jo to glance up at me. "No, Catie, you must have it wrong! I specifically asked for today off! It was granted _months_ ago!"

"I'm sorry, but we're basically calling in everyone today," Catie said with an apologetic voice. "All the fifth-year trainees at least. Healer Williams won't like it if you don't turn up."

"But I've got a wedding to go to!" I practically shouted. "I'm Maid of Honour! I CAN'T come in to work!"

"Look, Rose, I hate pulling this card, I've been forced to do it six times this morning," Catie began warily. "The full-Healer positions have started being assigned. I'm not supposed to officially know, but the reports get sent through reception; seven spots out of fifteen have already been taken up. If you don't get down here and Healer Williams notices, he'll take that as a sign of making his job easier and you'll be out of the course before you can say _Episkey_!"

"Oh, _shit_ …" I tugged at the roots of my hair, staring desperately at Bea on the floor. Even she had glanced up at me, tears staining her face, clearly wanting to know what was happening down the other end of the phone. I _couldn't_ leave her today. It was her wedding and she was already freaking out! I had just been thinking that I'd handcuff her to a broomstick and fly her down the aisle if we had to. "Catie, please, you've got to be kidding me, I could come in _any_ other day! Tomorrow, I swear!"

"Rose, it's today or you're history!" Catie insisted. "I'm so sorry, dear, but I'm sure your friend will understand …"

No amount of pleading and begging was able to sway Catie. She valued her job too much, despite the fact that I knew she was on my side in all of this. I eventually hung up the phone, swearing, and the other girls were looking at me with alarm.

"What's going on?" Jo asked the second the phone left my ear.

"I'm being called into bloody work!" I yelled in frustration, shoving at one of our dining table chairs in anger. "Full-Healer positions are being assigned and basically, if I don't go in, they'll kick me out! What the hell am I supposed to do–?!"

"_Rosie_," Lily said, standing up. She crossed the room and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Calm down! We've already got one girl freaking out, we don't need _two_!"

"LL, I _can't_ miss my best friend's wedding–!"

"Rosie, there won't b-be a w-wedding, so just g-go!" Bea insisted, which of course set off another round of 'don't be stupid's from Libby and Jo, who were still sitting with her.

As I looked helplessly at my little cousin, I waited for her to pull some magic solution out of her pocket. Eventually, Lily sighed and said, "Look, Rose you just get ready for work. The girls and I can handle Bea. The wedding starts at two, so we'll think of something by then to get you out of work, ok?"

"God, this day is already going wrong and it's barely even started …" I muttered.

Lily just laughed, giving me a hug that I really needed. "Just be ready for a quick get away. I'm not past storming in with a fake stand-off. I'll even use you as a hostage."

Seriously hoping that it wouldn't come to that, I quickly darted around the flat, getting ready. I had just managed to throw on my work uniform, make my hair somewhat presentable and scull back a cup of tea with a whole load of hangover potion dumped into it when something dreadful happened; the door opened and _her_ voice rang through the flat,

"Gooood morning, everyone!" Queen Godzilla sang, slamming the door shut behind her.

She looked like she'd been stuck somewhere for a very long time; she was still in her dress from the hens party, her hair was in a disarray and her dress was covered in greasy marks and what looked like bits of cling-film. She carried her shoes in her hands, but she acted like nothing had happened, apart from the murderous glare she sent in my direction. God, I wish I remembered what we'd done to her; whatever it was, I was willing to bet that it was worth whatever dirty looks she could throw at me.

"Are we ready to get married–? _Bea_?" she cut herself off when she stared at the scene before her. Her little sister, still crying her eyes out on the floor, hunched over in Libby's arms, while Lily and Jo tried to comfort her and myself, standing behind him and looking ready to snap.

To say Queen Godzilla looked shocked was a bit of an understatement. And that was when she rounded on me.

Of course.

"What the HELL did you say to her?!" she screamed.

"You're _kidding_ me?" I yelled. "I didn't _say _anything! I just woke up and found her like that, sitting on the floor, crying hysterically and harping on about how she can't marry Al!"

"WHAT?!" Queen Godzilla shrieked. "She _has_ to marry him! Bea, are you listening to me? Don't be _stupid_! We didn't spend all this time creating the perfect wedding for you so you could back out now!"

However, it seemed that Bea wasn't having any more of this and I could really understand why. She completely ignored her sister and tore herself out of Libby's arms. She had dashed to the hallway and slammed her bedroom door behind her before Queen Godzilla's expression could even change.

"Bea!" Libby cried, tearing after her and banging on the door. "Bea, look, just open up! We can talk about this!"

"No! Go away, all of you!"

"This is all YOUR fault!" Queen Godzilla yelled, pointing an accusing finger at me and throwing her shoes to the side. "I knew living with you was a bad influence! You've convinced her not to get married!"

"What?!" I cried. "Are you _insane_? Al is my cousin and my best friend! I love him and Bea more than anything! I saw them meet each other, hell, I was there at every bloody stage of their relationship and you think I don't want them to get _married_?!"

"You're jealous!" Queen Godzilla continued with the accusations. "You have never been supportive of this wedding and I know why–!"

"–because it's _stupid_?"

"–it's because you're jealous that you will never get a wedding as _perfect_ as this one!" Queen Godzilla cried dramatically. The other girls were all still at Bea's door, only they were sort of half-heartedly banging on it now, since they were also busy watching Queen Godzilla and I scream at each other.

"What the hell is THAT supposed to mean?" I said, hotly.

"Oh, come on, it doesn't take a _genius_ to work it out!" Queen Godzilla laughed, flipping her hair back and I gritted my teeth. "You still moon over that Scorpius bloke! And let me tell you, girl, this is the closest you'll EVER get to a wedding because there's no way in hell that he would _ever_ marry you! You do nothing but scream at each other! So sorry, but just because you will never land a husband of your own does NOT mean that you can ruin my baby sister's special day! You've convinced Bea to screw up her relationship, _just like you_!"

That _bitch_.

"Oh, my god …" Libby muttered.

"You did _not_–" I was so angry that I could barely string together a sentence. Who the hell does she think she _is_? The bloody Queen of England?! "Scorpius isn't – you aren't – don't you bloody DARE insult him!" I yelled. "You might try and control your sister's wedding and you can yell at her fine! But NO ONE messes with my Scorpius! No one but me! So just take a BLOODY hint and THROW YOURSELF OFF THIS BUILDING!"

And for good measure, I used all the force I could muster and _finally_ slapped Annie 'Queen Godzilla' Bowmen around the face.

If her face was shocked before, it was nothing compared to what it looked like now. Lily, Libby and Jo seemed to be falling about in a mixture of laughter and surprise. And yeah, while my hand stung like hell, I actually felt like I'd finally gotten something right this morning.

"When _you_ get a boyfriend, you can insult him all you like," I snarled. "But until then, you can _back the hell off_ _mine_!"

Queen Godzilla just gaped, holding the cheek that I had slapped. I didn't know if Bea had heard any of that, but either way, she apparently was still not coming out. Libby ran over to me while Queen Godzilla shook her head, trying to regain whatever dignity she had left.

"Rosie, I am in _awe_," my friend said. "I've been wanting to slap that girl ever since she turned up in our lives!"

"Please, look after Bea," I just said desperately, now searching for my bag. "I need to get to work, I can't afford to be late–" I turned back to see that Libby was holding out my bag for me. "Oh, thank you …"

"That's fine," she said. "It's like your cousin said, you go heal people, we'll try and figure something out–"

Queen Godzilla's voice cut Libby off as she huffed, "This is ridiculous!" She stormed to Bea's bedroom door and Lily and Jo both scattered as Queen Godzilla began pounding on it. "BEATRICE LAUREN BOWMEN! If you don't come out right now, I'm going to force you into that dress and kick your sorry arse down the aisle! Aunt Henrietta didn't come all the way from Russia for nothing, did she?!"

"She might as well have!" Bea yelled back through the door. "Besides, I hate that woman! And don't use my whole name!"

"–and, er … we'll try and tame _that_." Libby finished, taking in Queen Godzilla who had continued screaming at her sister.

"I guess nothing, not even a good old slap can shake that monster," I said, sighing and massaging my hand. It might have been pointless, but _god_ it felt satisfying. "Look, I _have_ to go to work, are you sure that you'll to be able to manage … er, _everything_?" I asked, hesitantly.

Libby just laughed as Lily and Jo joined us, leaving Queen Godzilla to scream at her sister, now abandoning pounding on the door in favour for kicking it. "Rosie, this is _us_ you're talking to!" she said. "We can handle anything! With any luck, the door'll cave in and we can just _stupefy_ Bea until the wedding's over. As for Queen Godzilla, we'll ambush her, stuff her in a sack and throw her down a river. Then, we'll all be able to go to bed tonight and not have to think about this day until they get back from their honeymoon."

"Sounds wonderful," I said, now hopping around and trying to jam my shoes on my feet. "Hold down the fort for me, girls! And I'm counting on you to get me out of work!"

"Trust me, I'll think of something!" Lily snapped me a salute.

"And we'll also be sure to mention to Scorpius how you defended his honour and all that," Jo added with a smirk. "It was kind of sweet, if in a very violent sort of way."

"Do that and I kill you."

"You realise you called him your boyfriend, right?"

"Jo, I'm afraid if you don't shut up–"

"Yes, yes, Jo ends up murdered in a ditch," Jo grinned and I rolled my eyes at her.

"Look, just get through four hours of work and we'll get you out, don't worry," Libby told me. "Just … don't get in trouble. It seems that we'll already be reluctantly bailing Queen Godzilla out of jail for murdering her sister, we don't want to have to make a trip out to Azkaban, too!"

I actually managed to laugh at that as I opened the front door. "I can't promise anything," I answered.

* * *

I honestly tried to be a positive force at work, I really did. However, my mind was completely split between two things: my Bea back at home, petrified at the thought of getting married today and, of course, Scorpius Malfoy.

My hand still stung from that slap, but I would never have taken it back. In fact, it seemed only fair after he took that punch for me last night. At the time, I hadn't known what the hell possessed him, but now, I was starting to get a clue. I was in love with him and I had just felt an overwhelming desire to protect him. If anyone was going to hurt him, it was going to be _me_. He was mine and I was his. It's just how love worked.

That is, if we manage to get through this wedding alive and survive long enough to talk our issues out. Sometimes, I really wished that it could have been as simple as that one mind-blowing night of sex.

_Stop that, _I told myself as I waved hello to a sorry-looking Catie at the reception and headed down to the trainee staff room. _Thinking about him like that isn't going to help you get out of here in time for the wedding_!

When I entered the staff room, it was to find it teeming with fifth-year trainees, all huffing and moaning. Clearly, everyone had been called in, including Ally. "Rosie!" she called once she noticed me arrive, in the process of stuffing her bag into a locker. "You got called in as well?"

"On the day of my best friend's wedding!" I cried, practically throwing my bag into the locker next to hers. "I have to somehow get out of here by two!"

"Oh, god …" Ally gave me a grimace that clearly said that she felt for me. "That's Al and Bea, right? Any chance they won't mind?"

"I've known them for over ten years and I'm Maid of Honour," I said. "I'm thinking they'd never forgive me! Mind, that's if Bea ever gets down the bloody aisle; I woke up this morning to have her freaking out and crying that she can't get married!"

"It seems to be a reasonable reaction to me," Ally shrugged. "Today she's supposed to tie her life to one person forever in front of hundreds of people. Any rational person would be concerned."

"Ally, would you _ever_ get married?" I just sighed, trying not to laugh at my friend.

"I think that question would be more appropriate in a few years," Ally started looking slightly ashamed at that, seeming to ignore the fact that her face was slowly going bright red. "Right now, I'm lucky to even still have a boyfriend."

"Shit," I said at once, pausing in my efforts to tug my Healer robe on. "What's happened?"

Ally winced. "I told Gerald about Spain."

I grimaced for her. I'll admit, I felt slightly bad at the fact that I had almost forgotten about Ally and the potential job in Spain; so much stuff had happened in the dramatic life of Rose Weasley that I had completely missed a thought to the dramatic lives of Gerald Brown and Ally Carter.

"Am I right in assuming that everything went pear-shaped?"

"He got mad."

"Well, of course he was going to be bloody mad!" I said, exasperatedly. "When did you tell him?"

"The same day you spoke to me, exactly a week ago," Ally said, talking to the floor and hiding once more behind her hair. "It … there was yelling. I argued back. We haven't exactly spoken since then."

"Oh, Ally."

"I know!" she cried. "What do I do?"

"Why the hell are you asking me?" I said, knowing full well why. But I wasn't going to let her get away with this one.

"Because!" she said. "Isn't that our entire relationship? I screw up, you tell me what to do, and I fix it?"

"Ally, I'm afraid this is something you have to fix yourself," I told my friend. But I still reached out and squeezed her shoulder, knowing she needed the comfort. "Gone are the days when you can just say 'I'm Ally and I don't know how relationships work' and everything will be fine. If you really want this with Gerald, you're going to have to _fight_ for it."

"… fight?" she asked, hesitantly.

"You know!" I gestured wildly with my arms, as if that would really help get my point across. "Fight! You've got to prove to Gerald that you want this, that you _need_ this, need _him_! That's true, right?"

Ally nodded once, her face going pale. Oh, dear, I'm scaring the shit out of her. Ah, well, if she can't hack it now, she never will. "Ally, I know you don't have a lot of confidence in yourself," I said. "and that's partly why you applied overseas in the first place. I understand that perfectly. But we both know that that's not the real reason you're doing it. You're looking for an out, because as scared as you are at the thought of you and Gerald not working out, it frightens you even more to think that you _could_. You're afraid of screwing it up; well, guess what? You've screwed it up already, so you've got one of two options. One, go the whole way and just take the job in Spain. Your relationship with Gerald will essentially be over and you won't be scared anymore. Or two, you can tell Spain to shove it and tell Gerald that you're in it for the long haul. I bet you've never even talked about the future, have you?"

"N-no …" Ally muttered, completely red now.

"Well, I can tell you from experience," I said to her. "Not talking about it just makes things worse. You think _I'm_ not scared?"

"About Scorpius?" Ally looked confused. "I thought you told me he was going to stay away?"

"Uh, yeah …" My stomach clenched and my heart stuttered when I remembered that morning. My words. That kiss. "About that …"

"Would you like to talk about what happened?" Ally asked, politely.

I almost laughed. If this had been Bea, she wouldn't have asked; she'd have screamed 'TELL ME!' before unplugging the phone, shutting Layla in her cage and locking the door. "We've almost managed to sort something out," I answered. "My point is, I'm bloody terrified of us going for it and having it all just fall apart again. But sometimes you've just got to take the harder choice, Ally. The stakes are high and you could either win it all or lose it all … but it's worth it if you win."

"I love Gerald," Ally said, quietly.

"Those are your stakes," I told her. "Are you willing to just throw that away on the fact that you're scared it might or might not work out?"

When Ally gave me a small smile from behind her hair, I felt like my job was done. Sure, I'd probably have to be on stand-by in case they go off on a tangent, but they were going to see this through, I knew it. I'd make sure of it.

"We should start work," I said in a much softer voice, hoping that might calm Ally enough for her shift.

"I'm curious," Ally said as she nodded and we made our way out of the staff room. "If you have a wedding to go to, how are you going to get out of work?"

"No idea."

"I never believed in weddings," Ally said, holding the door open for me. "I always thought marriage was irrational. If you loved someone, I didn't think it was necessary to prove it with a slip of paper. Especially since these days people treat marriage as something that they can try out before buying. And having to do all that in front of hundreds of people?" She shuddered. "No, I never believed in it."

"But now …?" I prompted, since it was clear that there was one coming.

Ally glanced as me as we passed behind the reception desk. "Now, I'm starting to see the merits in it."

Which was about as close as we were going to get.

We said goodbye at the stairs and by the time I made it to the wards, it was to realise that there were already several rumours circulating the hospital about how many full-Healer positions had been assigned yet. Some said only one or two and at one point, Sarah had come bowling up to me in the middle of the corridor to cry that she'd heard that all fifteen spots were gone. It had taken me several moments to calm her down before sending her back on her break. My current and last cycle to complete before the ultimate decision of getting appointed full-Healer or getting the chopping block was announced, was ground floor accidents. Luckily, today I was currently assigned to the wards and didn't have to deal with getting past Healer Williams in the emergency department. Unfortunately, it was the reason I managed to walk straight into Harley in the middle of the corridor.

We hadn't managed to go five years of training without being put in the same cycle; I vividly remembered a cycle earlier in the training year up in spell damage, where Harley had just watched and laughed when a little boy had thrown up bubbles all over me. But every time we were placed in the same area, by an unspoken rule, we generally ignored each other.

Except for today, apparently.

"Weasley!" Harley actually looked surprised to see me. "What're you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" I retorted.

"_I_ got called into work," Harley said, bitterly. "Which means that my chances of attending the wedding are slim to none. But I figured that you would kick up a fuss if they tried to call you in."

"It was either go to work or get kicked off the course!" I said, scowling. "What, you thought that I wouldn't care about the people here who need healing?"

"No, I thought you would care more about your best friends," Harley said, smugly.

I kind of wanted to smack her for that, but refrained myself. I'd already slapped one person today, I didn't want to add to that. Plus, Harley's already been on the receiving end of my violence once before, it would be wrong of me to give her a repeat experience … ish. Anyway.

"Just … just leave me alone, ok?" I snapped at her. "I already don't get to attend my best friends' wedding, I don't need you harping on at me in the background!"

"What?" Harley seemed surprised at that and she tore after me when I stormed off down the corridor. She grabbed my arm to prevent me from disappearing further into the wards. "Weasley! Are you seriously saying that you have _no plan_?"

"D'you think I'm some kind of convict or something?" I asked, jerking my arm back. "I don't have _any_ sort of plan! My cousin, Lily, said she would think of something to get me out of here, but I'm not exactly hopeful."

"But you're Rose Weasley!" Harley said, biting her lip nervously. "I thought, since you'd been called into work as well, you'd figure out a way to get to the wedding, no matter what!"

"And don't tell me, you wanted in?"

"I thought that together, we could get the hell out of here, yeah!" Harley said.

For some reason, that hit home. _Together_. She thought that together, we could get to the wedding in time. Apparently, this registered in Harley's brain as well, since something clicked behind her eyes and she took my hand tightly. "C'mon, we are talking about this–" she muttered before dragging me into the nearest empty ward. The second the doors shut behind us, Harley began, "Look, I know that we never really saw eye to eye, but I seriously think that we can do this! We can–"

"Are you hearing yourself?!" I practically cried. "You are _Lucy Harley_! Best friend of my ex and the ex of one of my best friends! We do _not_ like each other and we certainly don't get along!"

"Weasley …" Harley gave a sigh, flipping her black ponytail over her shoulder and my eye twitched. I could almost imagine that we were back at Hogwarts. "I know I'm a horrible bitch to you, but you're a bitch back, you have to admit! Scorpius was the only thing we had in common, but now we've got much more than that. We have Al and Bea! They're _my_ friends as well and I think that if we just remember that, then we can somehow find a way to get us out of here!"

"Does that mean that you won't continue to be so … Harley-ish?"

"Hey," She shot me a look. "I'm still Lucy Harley. And you're still Rose Weasley. We might never really call each other friends, but we want the same thing for a change. Surely we can make that work for us?"

"… we never will be friends, will we?" I muttered, keeping my eyes firmly on the floor.

"I don't think so, no," Harley admitted, quietly. "But at least now, it's for real reasons. Back at Hogwarts, it was just about Scorpius. Now, it's your general personality I can't stand."

"Thanks," I muttered.

"But I don't _hate_ you," Harley added with a smirk. "I just very, severely dislike you. Can we handle that?"

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual," I said, glancing up at her with a faint smile. "But I think yeah, we can. And look, if we're going to call a temporary truce, I want to apologise for something, if that's ok and not going way too overboard with the whole 'getting along' thing?"

"Go ahead."

I took a deep breath. This had been a long time coming and I'd been sitting with it since I was sixteen. "I'm sorry for punching you."

Harley looked confused. "What?"

"In the face," I elaborated. "Y'know, back in fifth-year at Hogwarts. You kissed Scorpius, so I punched you and then ran away. I never apologised for hitting you and … well, I'm actually kind of sorry. So, sorry."

"… wow," Harley just stared, her brown eyes wide. "I … I didn't think you would ever feel bad about that. I mean, I had literally jumped your sort-of boyfriend at that point, I figured I kind of deserved it."

"Yeah, well, it was seven years ago, right?" I shrugged. "We're older, we've been through a lot more since then, I figured that if we want to work together at all, we should probably have nothing between us that makes us not like each other more than just our personalities. You have anything to apologise for?"

"Erm …" Harley looked uncomfortable, scuffing her shoe on the ground. "For kissing Scorpius, I suppose? Though I seriously had no idea you liked him, I just thought you were being a jealous bitch who wanted her punching bag back."

"I was both," I admitted. "But thanks."

"Well!" Harley cracked her knuckles. "I seriously think that's enough mushy shit for the day! I can still call you Weasley, right? I don't think I could handle 'Rosie'; that's probably going just a bit too far."

"Trust me, you're still Harley in my eyes," I actually had to try and supress a grin. "So what's the plan?"

"We need to be out of here by one at the latest, right?" Harley said. "So, around then, I reckon I fake a family emergency; pretend that, I dunno, my uncle has been in a broom crash or something in Sweden and I have to go see him right away. You, as the caring colleague, insist on taking me and ensuring that I will be ok. Healer Williams will be forced to let us go and record our absence as leave. Perhaps throw in a little vomit, too, who knows? Sound good?"

"Sounds like you've really thought this through," I pointed out.

Harley just rolled her eyes before heading for the door of the ward that we were still hiding in. "There's no way in hell I was missing Al and Bea's wedding," she told me. "The hens party was brilliant enough! I can't wait to see the spectacle that Queen Godzilla has in store for us!"

"I have a feeling that Bea would kill you if you mentioned that to her."

"Hey," Harley turned back in the doorway to give me another one of her smirks. At one point, that might have made me smack her, but now it only slightly irritated me. I seriously think I'm starting to get a handle on my anger issues! "Like I said, after the hens night, I wouldn't miss it for anything. Especially if Scorpius starts throwing punches at anyone who gets off with you again."

"Oh, hell. You _saw_ that?" I hissed as we ducked back out into the corridor, trying to act as if we hadn't been having a hissing row for the past ten minutes.

"Girl, the whole bloody _club_ saw it," Harley pointed out. "Most of us didn't notice Scorpius getting his arse kicked, though; that was about when Al showed up and started taking out people with his 'dance' moves. But I saw the whole thing," As we approached the Healer's station where our supervisor was waiting, Harley gave me a sideways glance, still smirking. "The way he lashed out like that? Trust me, Weasley, he _so _still loves you."

"Oh, just shut up, you never could stay out of it, could you?" I bit back with a grin, our supervisor glancing up in confusion when he noticed our bickering.

Harley just rolled her eyes at me. "C'mon, Weasley," was all she said. "Let's go show them what we're made of."

* * *

Working in league with Harley was such an odd experience, that I vowed that I would never ever do it again unless my life was threatened. But surprisingly, we made a good team. We got through patients together faster and she even protected me from the other vultures! It was getting to crunch time, in terms of the full-Healer titles and we were all certain that they were being assigned today. Everyone was so keen to impress, we were hearing stories of fifth-years in other areas of sabotage, injuries and hurtful gossip to shake spirits and get names dragged through the mud. Basically, everyone was desperate and the fangs were starting to come out, though in one case, that was basically literal.

"Brother got carried away and those trick-vampire fangs that your uncle sells at his shop got embedded into his forearm …" Harley rattled off to me before I entered the exam room. Our supervisor was waiting for us inside, waiting to watch us attend to the latest patient, a little boy who must be about eight-years-old. He was no longer crying, but had a very red face, sitting on his father's lap and his bloody right arm resting on the bed next to him.

"Gee, thanks Uncle George," I muttered, though I was glad that his joke shop was up and running again. I glanced at Harley and said quickly, "Ok, so I start talking and after about twenty seconds, you come bursting in, needing me, right?"

"Yes," Harley nodded. "We'll talk to Healer Langton and he'll send us to Healer Williams, who will hopefully send us home. Ok, Weasley? Twenty seconds!"

"I've got it, geez!" I muttered, before leaving Harley outside the doors and entering the exam room. I acknowledged Healer Langton before sitting down next to the father and his son and said, "Hello, my name is Healer Weasley, I take it you are Jeremy and Benny Massey?"

"Yes, that's us," Mr Massey said, stroking his son's dark hair. "Turned my back for a second, honestly."

I just smiled before turning to the little boy, Benny. "Hey, Benny! Now how much does your arm hurt on a scale of one to ten? Ten hurting the most, one being no pain."

"T-ten …" the boy said, miserably.

I glanced up at Harley, who, behind the doors, was darting her eyes frantically back to our supervisor, Healer Langton. She was waiting for my confirmation.

However, I made the mistake of looking back at Benny Massey and his arm. He looked so uncomfortable and miserable and looking into his big blue eyes only reminded me of another moment in my Healing career; when those blue eyes had been Scorpius's, slowly dying on a bed in front of me. I had been there for him. If I hadn't, my life would have taken a very dark turn. I _had_ to be here for this little boy.

I glanced back at Harley and tried to silently communicate that she should leave. I think she got the message, since she just started shaking her head frantically and mouthing, "_Don't be stupid! Let me come in_!" But I was insistent and eventually, I turned my back on her when I felt a tug on my sleeve.

"Miss Healer, can you fix my arm?" Benny asked me. "Or are you gonna have to chop it? Nathan said you'd have to chop it!"

I'm sorry, Bea! Damn my good intentions.

"We definitely won't have to chop your arm off," I reassured him with a grin. "We will get these silly vampire teeth out of your arm and you will be fine, ok? And guess what?"

"What?"

"If you're lucky, you might even get to keep them!"

Benny's face simply lit up. "_Really_?" he asked.

"Really!" I glanced back at the door to see Harley still there, wavering. I gave a jerk of my head. _Seriously, girl, get out of here! If I don't make it, tell Al and Bea I love them! _

I turned back to Benny. I had a little kid's arm to save.

* * *

Benny had to be one of the bravest eight-year-olds I'd ever met and I had met some pretty tough fighters up in magical illnesses. He only cried once when, to get the teeth out, I had to snap them in half and the fangs dug in slightly deeper. However, as I was cleaning up his arm, he was happily chattering away at a hundred miles a minute about the play-fight he had gotten into with his older brother and sister.

"Sarah said that Nathan was too scared to touch the fangs, cause he didn't get them himself! He got them from Randal next door when he chucked them over the fence. But Nathan said he would touch them, so he did, but then he got scared and Sarah had to duck cause he _threw_ them! But that's when they got onto my arm and I don't normally cry, but this hurt really bad, so I cried this time …" Benny took a breath as I waved my wand, forcing Benny's blood to retreat back into his arm. "Daddy didn't think it was real, he thought I was just pretending, didn't you, Daddy?"

Mr Massey just snorted, giving his son a slight squeeze up on the bed where Benny was sitting. "Well, if you and your brother and sister didn't fight so much, perhaps I wouldn't think you were joking!" he told him.

"Anyway!" Benny continued, excitedly. "Sarah told Daddy that Nathan threw the teeth and then Daddy saw my arm and he brought me here to you! Have you fixed my arm yet?"

"Almost," I said, summoning a bandage to wrap around his sealed bite marks. "And I'll tell you a secret; my brother once threw a coffee mug at me."

Benny's eyes went wide. "Did he get in trouble?!"

"Oh, yeah, big time!" I told him, making sure the bandage was tight enough. "He had to do all my chores himself as well as his own for a whole week!"

"Daddy, will Nathan do my chores?" Benny asked his father.

Mr Massey just stifled a laugh. "You shouldn't be so happy that your brother hurt you," he told his son. "I'll talk to Nathan. Thank you," he added to me, gratefully. "My wife's out of the country for work until next week and I have to look after the three terrors by myself! Can't wait until they're all at Hogwarts …"

I laughed, finishing off his bandage. "I know the feeling. I had to babysit my younger cousins once, and they alone were a hand-full."

Mr Massey just gave me a grateful look, helping Benny off the bed. "Honestly, I can't thank you enough," he said.

"Yeah, thanks for healing my arm!" Benny added.

"You're very welcome," I told him, handing him a container with the two half's of the teeth inside, which twitched every now and then. "Here are your fangs that were stuck! But don't go throwing any more of them about; who knows where they might get stuck next time?"

Benny just giggled as his dad ruffled his hair. I escorted them out into the corridor, Healer Langton following and still watching as I reminded Mr Massey to come back if the wound got infected. Just as they were leaving, Benny turned to me one last time and said, "You're cool, Healer Weasley! I wanna be a Healer like you."

"Well, thank you, Benny," I told him, waving goodbye. It was always sad to see a patient go, no matter how rude, surly or sick they might be. Everyone had a story here at St Mungo's and one day soon, I swear it was going to be my permanent job to help them. I decided right then and there that if fate decided it hated me and I wasn't assigned a full-Healer position, I was going to screw this system and move to bloody France if I had to. Being a Healer was _everything_ I wanted and like hell was I going to let a prick like Healer Williams decide my fate! Besides, I have relatives in France; apparently Auntie Fleur's parents take in strays all the time and they _do_ have a ginormous manor house in the countryside.

Healer Langton was quick in his assessment of how I did with Benny Massey; all I got out of him was that I did a good job and he was suddenly off, striding through the bustle of the ground-floor corridor. I just shrugged, heading for the Healer's station, chatting to one of the third-year trainees, Amy, in between patients. We had worked together when my uncle's joke shop exploded and I seemed to have involuntarily taken her on as a mentee.

"D'you think you'll get a full position?" she asked, excitedly, blond hair bobbing. "Oh, I'm so sure you will!"

"Thanks, Amy," I grinned. "Though I won't get it if I skive off the rest of my shift, which I'm seriously considering."

"Why?"

"It's my best friend's wedding today," I told her. "I'm Maid of Honour, but I got called in this morning. Basically told me that if I didn't work, I'd be making Healer Williams' job a bit easier."

"What a bastard!" Amy said and I decided on the spot that I rather liked this girl. I would make sure she made it all the way to full-Healer. "When's the wedding?"

"At two," I glanced worriedly at my watch; quarter past one. This was impossible. "There's no way I'm going to get there in time; even if they give me my lunch break then, I'd still have to leave, get changed, get there and get back …"

"If you ask me, we get a raw deal," Amy told me. "Why should we have to suffer through five years of training, only to be possibly kicked out in the end? I swear, if I make it, I'm going to climb up that corporate ladder and become the top dog! I'll change the whole system so applicants only have to compete for the first, I dunno, six months or something. That would work so much better, wouldn't you reckon? Weed out the ones who can't hack it, but you won't end up with trainees who have spent five years hating each other! You know we had Bethany Cowan down here with a gash in her hand, after one of your vultures 'accidentally' slashed her hand with a laceration charm?"

"Don't tell me, it was that bitch, Charlize, right?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"I thought it was that Lucy Harley girl at first," Amy said, shuddering. "She's utterly horrible to any trainee that she's not mates with, but she left about twenty minutes ago."

"Y'know, Harley's starting to grow on me," I mused, leaning against the bench of the cluttered Healer's station. "She's a total bitch of course, don't get me wrong, but I think she has her moments."

"Only you would believe in her," Amy grinned.

"Right, well," I stood up straight, placing my hands flat on the bench. "Guess I'd better crack on then. Who's my next–?"

"Healer Weasley!"

Amy made a squeaking sound and she nearly fell over. Healer Williams was striding towards us with his usual scowl and she immediately snatched up the nearest patient file and hurried off. Just as she zipped around our boss, she glanced back at me with an expression that clearly said, _good luck, you're going to need it!_ I spun around to face Healer Williams, bracing myself for the worst. Was he firing me on the spot for talking? At this point, they'd be looking for any reason to give us the boot! I braced myself as I asked, "Yes, Healer Williams?"

Healer Williams gave me a scrutinising look, his clipboard looking ominous in his hands. He looked like he was trying to dissect me. "I've just had Healer Langton come to me about you," he said, holding up a hand when I tried to defend myself; natural reaction. "No, let me finish! His report for your treatment of a Mr Benny Massey held such wild regard for you that I had to come and enquire about it myself. Do you believe that you did a good a job as Healer Langston claims you did?"

"I …" I was stunned, but eventually found my tongue. "I – yes! Yes, I do believe I did a more than satisfactory job, at the risk of sounding like I'm boasting, sir."

Healer Williams gave me a weird look. I thought it could almost be _pride_, but that was such an odd thing to consider that I dismissed it immediately. Healer Williams pretty much hated everyone; I didn't think pride was an emotion he even understood. "Well, Healer Langston reports that not only did you display exemplary skills in Healing, but that you managed to placate the patient and keep him calm and content, while also being careful to not grow too attached. Then, not five minutes ago, I had Mr Massey and his son ask to see me so they could compliment your work. They were more than satisfied with the Healing of Benny Massey's arm and sought to make sure that you would be rewarded."

"I … I seriously don't know what to say …" I said, honestly. I felt like my world was exploding around me. I didn't realise that good things like this even still existed!

"As it is, I have decided on a reward for you," Healer Williams rolled his eyes, like he was only doing this to humour the patients, but I could tell that there was something else behind his cynical-ness. "I'm giving you the rest of your shift off."

"What, seriously?!" I practically yelped, trying to stifle the grin on my face.

"Yes, seriously," Healer Williams snapped. "I heard from the receptionists that you have an important wedding to attend to today and I … admired your resolve and dedication to your work, despite the commitments you may have already had. So I'm letting you go. No disciplinary action will occur. I believe people should get what they deserve. Now get out of here before I change my mind."

"Oh, my god – yes! Thank you, Healer Williams!" I could have hugged him, but he just gestured with his clipboard and I took off running down the corridor, a huge grin still on my face. I was practically giddy as I stripped off my robe, skidding into the main waiting room. It was also there that I ran straight into Lily.

"Woe–! Rosie?" Lily said, steadying me with her hands at my elbows. "Brilliant timing, I'm here to bail you out!" She raised her voice so several people could hear, including Catie and the other receptionists. "I'm SO sorry, Rosie, but there's been this HUGE accident, you're needed at home RIGHT AWAY–!"

"LL, shut up!" I said, shoving her on the arm. "Healer Williams just gave me the rest of my shift off! I was just going to get my stuff now!"

"What, really? That's great!" Lily cried, following me as I headed straight for the entrance to the staff room, behind the front reception desk. "How come?"

"Does it matter?" I asked her. "All that matters is that I'm out of here!" This was just amazing! Seriously, things like this _don't_ happen to me! Maybe I should have more faith in karma? I'll never call Healer Williams any kind of name ever again! I'll be Miss Positive Force Rosie from here on out!

_Nothing_ can destroy my good mood now!

* * *

"Holy shit, what the bloody _hell_ happened to you?" I said in horror, staring at my cousin.

Al was obviously completely and utterly trashed, lounging on his sofa with a bottle of open Firewhiskey in his hand while Scorpius helplessly watched. My cousin seemed a bit incoherent with speech at the moment as he was currently singing 'A Cauldron Full of Hot Strong Love', sounding worse than Tom Ellis. I was still in my uniform and had stopped round the boys' flat to make sure that they were ready for the wedding, when I found them in _this _state.

The boys who attended the stag do – all _fourteen_ of them – were all still lounged about the flat, James snoring underneath the kitchen table and one of Al's work friends was still wrapped up in caution tape for some reason. The wedding was in less than an hour and they hadn't even gotten up yet!

So of course, since he was the only one fully conscious and coherent, I rounded on Scorpius.

"How the hell could you let him get to THIS state?!" I shrieked, causing several moans and stirrings from the boys.

"Let him?!" Scorpius yelled back. "Hell, I just woke up and he was already like this!"

"Seriously, the stag do wasn't enough for you lot?" I said with a frustrated yell. Ignoring the moans and groans of the boys grumbling about being woken, I moved to my cousin's side and said, "Al! It's Rose, can you hear me?"

"Rosie! Rosie-Malosie!" Al said cheerfully, sitting up suddenly. "Hey! Guess wha'?"

"What?" I grumbled, not amused as I tried to haul my cousin onto his feet.

"… I'm getting married today!" Al laughed and Scorpius had to move to catch the Firewhiskey bottle before Al dropped it.

I just snorted at him. "Not like this you're not! You're supposed to be getting married in less than an hour! How much did you drink?"

Al looked puzzled as I managed to get him standing and stay standing. "Er … I dunno … they all sorta merged togeth'a aft'a 'leven in th' mornin' …"

"Oh, bloody hell …" I muttered. "Scorpius! Make yourself useful and try and get Al ready, would you? There's a hangover potion in the bathroom I'm pretty sure, force it down his throat if you have to!"

"Your wish is my command," Scorpius said, giving me a mock salute. For a moment, I just watched him head for the bathroom. Then, I made a snap decision and I strode after him. I reached him just before his bedroom and I grabbed at his arm, tugging him aside.

"Scorpius–" I began, then realised that words weren't really going to cut it. Instead, I moved the hand I had on his arm to his neck, so I could pull him in for a short, hard, kiss. I was trying not to be aware of the fact that it was almost this exact spot, two days ago, where we had been snogging fiercely up against the wall.

"Look," I said, pulling away with my face still close to his. "I'm sorry. I know things are stressful at the moment. But we'll sort this, I swear."

"It's fine," Scorpius answered, lightly. "I'd say 'I know you didn't mean to yell' but I know you really did, so …"

"We really can't get anything right, can we?"

Scorpius grinned. "Rose, I wouldn't have it any other way," he said. "I mean, I knew things today would go abysmally wrong, but I had no idea just how much."

"Look, just … just get the boys ready," I insisted, untangling myself from him and shoving him once more in the direction of the bathroom. "I'm serious, if they aren't at the church for two, Queen Godzilla will eat you alive."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Scorpius said. "That girl scares the shit out of me."

Conclusion to Healer Williams having a heart and everything just going insanely wrong:

-I swear, the next time I go into work, I will buy Healer Williams some chocolate or something. It wouldn't even be as a bribe!

-We have a drunk groom, a mentally unstable bride, a monster soon-to-be sister-in-law, an emotionally stressed Maid of Honour and a crazy set of mates.

-This was going to be bloody epic, if we don't all die from first-degree murder first.

Rose: 25, Scorpius: 21.

(He somehow manages to let my cousin get off his face barely an hour before his wedding! He is an incredibly crap Best Man).

* * *

A/N: _Please note:_ My exams are over, but my lovely computer bloody died on me (multiple times) and seriously needs fixing. The tech guy told me this could take up to three weeks. I seriously hope it doesn't come to that, but ultimately, if you don't see the next chapter for that amount of time, I am dreadfully sorry. I will hopefully be able to update using one of my flatmates' computers.

This chapter was originally merged with the next, but it was starting to get a bit too long together; so I split them. You now have the wrong one ... guess what comes next? :)

Your reviews have been simply amazing and you have now given me over 500. When I posted that prologue for GIR back in 2008, I never in a million years guessed that overall, over a thousand people would tell me their thoughts about my stories. You've all been so supportive and _please_, keep that coming! There's only a little bit left to this story, after all, and I hope to make it as spectacular as I can!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	33. The Right One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, weddings, Godzilla, horse carriages or getting things right.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 32: The Right One.

By the time I left the boys' flat and finally got home from work, it was to find utter _chaos_ ensuing.

"WE HAVE TO BE AT THE CHURCH IN FORTY MINUTES, SO YOU HAD BETTER GET YOUR ARSES INTO BLOODY GEAR _NOW_!" Queen Godzilla was screaming at the girls of the wedding.

I stood in the doorway, just staring at the sheer carnage; pretty much no one was dressed yet, except for Sophie, who had apparently shown up to inform the girls that the horse-drawn carriage was waiting outside. For some reason, Libby appeared to be wearing one of our curtains, half-transfigured into a dress, still with the rail resting across her shoulders. Queen Godzilla was still in her dress from the night before, in the middle of a screaming match with Jo, and the second she saw me, Bea practically leapt into my arms.

"Rosie!" she yelled, throwing her arms around my neck. "Save me!"

"It's the apocalypse! It's starting!" Libby cried.

"Good lord, I leave you guys alone for a couple of hours and everything turns to hell!" I said, staring in amazement. Bea was wearing a pair of jeans and an old Ravenclaw jumper, looking like the least likely person to be getting married today, but I was just thankful that they'd managed to get her out of her bloody bedroom. Jo hadn't combed her blond hair at all, causing it to stick up at one side. Lily had managed to get changed out of her pyjamas at least, thankfully into a nice skirt and blouse, and she was frantically yelling down our fellytone, apparently to Dave, her New Zealand not-boyfriend, on the other end. I didn't see Harley, though she had probably gone home to change.

We were supposed to be at a wedding in forty minutes! Were these whack-jobs seriously _that_ incapable of organising themselves?

"Where the HELL have you been?!" Queen Godzilla rounded on me, hands on hips. The girls all visibly cringed away from her.

"I've been at work, saving my career!" I said, hotly. "Why is no one ready?!"

"It's not _my _fault that your friends are perhaps the _least_–!"

"OI!" I yelled. "Girl, I've already slapped you once today, so don't make me do it again!" Amazingly, Queen Godzilla actually seemed to take that into account and settled to just glaring at me. Convinced that she would be quiet for now, I asked, "Now, Sophie, why is no one dressed but you and Lily?"

"I'm dressed!" Libby insisted.

"Lib, you're wearing a _curtain_."

"Queen Godzilla breathed fire," Sophie said, not looking like she was kidding. "Aggravated Jo so much that the dresses went up in flames in _seconds_."

"Complete accident!" Jo cried. "Magic got away from me, had no idea emotions could still set me off like that! In my defence, it was all _her_ fault." She jabbed a finger in Queen Godzilla's direction, who scoffed.

"I did not _aggravate_ you–!"

And like that, yet another huge argument started and I just shook my head. In comparison, the boys were basically on time! I ended up retreating and hiding behind the kitchen door and soon enough, Bea joined me.

"This is complete madness!" I said when she curled up next to me, peering through the crack between the door and the wall.

"Can I seriously just go back and hide in my room?"

"No!" I grabbed Bea's hand, lest she attempt to leap up and run. "I'm just glad they managed to get you out!"

"Yeah, well, I needed the bathroom," Bea shrugged. "No toilet in my bedroom. The others were sort of waiting to ambush me."

"Bea," I said, softly, squeezing her hand. "What _was_ this morning all about? You've been nothing but excited about this wedding since you got engaged, but this morning was …"

"I know," When Bea looked at me, I saw that while she was smiling, it was half-hearted, with her face still slightly pink from the tears. "I got a bit scared."

"Yeah, there seems to be some of that going around," I said, letting go of her hand to run mine through my tangled mess of hair, remembering Ally. I wasn't even out of my uniform yet. "Bea, you know you're being ridiculous, right?"

"Am I?" Bea asked. "Seriously, Rosie. I know I've been excited; hell, there's nothing I want more than to just get married today. But my parents married young. My mum wasn't even 22. And _now_ look at them!"

"Hey, they're still married, aren't they?" I pointed out.

"Yeah, barely," Bea muttered bitterly to her feet.

Oh. Bloody hell, why can't this day just be normal? "God, Bea …" I said, throwing arm around her shoulders as we both leaned back against the wall and she let her head rest against my shoulder. "I know your mum can be tough to handle, but _really_?"

"Annie told me," Bea said. "At my hens night. I mean _honestly_, who the hell tells a soon-to-be-bride that her parents are getting divorced the night before her wedding?! If there's anything bound to freak her out, it's that!"

I couldn't even imagine having to go through such a thing. You always hear about parents splitting up when their kids are young; guess they figure it out early? But when their kids are grown up and have lives of their own? I suppose I just assumed that they'd be fine at that point, seeing as they've managed to stick it out so far. I think if Hugo told me _our_ parents were splitting up, I might just go out on a bender; maybe even skip the country! The night before your own wedding would've been enough to knock anyone over.

"Bea," I said, eventually. "You know that you're _not them_, right?"

"Rosie, I'm _23 years old_," Bea countered. "Al only _just_ turned 23. We're absolutely crazy! We must be kidding ourselves if we think that this is going to work."

"Some people get married younger," I pointed out.

"Yeah, because they're a part of a cult or pregnant or something!"

"True, but you're something that's even better," I told her. "You're _in love_. In fact, you're in love with a bloke who is _crazy_ about you. You know what you're getting into, Bea. You've wanted this for a long time. You told me about the moment you realised that you and Al were in it forever. Hearing about your mum and dad will _not_ change that. You're not your parents. So what if you're getting married young? Hell, consider yourself lucky! Some people go their entire lives without _ever_ getting married! You know there's no other person in the world for you, so why throw that all away on the fact that you're _scared_?"

"… have you dished this speech out before?" Bea asked me, glancing up from my shoulder with a shrewd expression.

I laughed. "Ally got an ear full today."

"Do I even want to know what happened with her and Gerald?"

"Oh, a potential job offer in Spain and Ally trying to use it to bail out of the relationship," I shrugged, jostling Bea's head. "Nothing I can't handle. Apparently, I'm just the Relationship Queen."

"Yes, though you still can't seem to get yours right."

"Hey, I'm getting there!" I pointed out. "Now, are you going to stop being stupid and actually come and get ready for your wedding?"

"Honestly," Bea said. "While I know I'm definitely getting married today, I think I'd much rather hide behind this door–"

Just at that moment, Bea was cut off as the kitchen door was suddenly yanked back, revealing Auntie Ginny. She stood with her hands on her hips, simply staring at her future daughter-in-law and niece cuddling behind the kitchen door. Then, she held out her hands. "I don't know what's going on here," she told us. "But you're getting up. _Now_."

Wordlessly, we each took a hand and Auntie Ginny helped us to our feet. She looked lovely, with her red hair tossed up in a bun and a red dress that I knew would send Uncle Harry reeling with his jaw on the floor. Clearly, she was _not_ going to let herself be upstaged by the Bowmen's.

"Mrs Potter, everything has gone pear-shaped!" Bea cried.

"Clearly," my auntie said, giving Bea a sympathetic look. "Don't worry, darling, I'll sort this shit out."

"Auntie Ginny!" I said, eyes wide, but she took no notice of me. Instead, she stormed back into the lounge, where Queen Godzilla was at an all-out war with our friends. "All right, ladies!" she yelled and everyone fell silent. Well, _almost_ everyone. Nothing in the world could shut Queen Godzilla up. "I said ALL RIGHT!" Auntie Ginny added, but Queen Godzilla just aimed her yelling at her instead. However, Auntie Ginny was obviously fed up. She literally grabbed Queen Godzilla by the arm and _threw _her out of the flat, slamming the front door in her face. _Finally_, the yelling was muffled.

"Lovely!" Auntie Ginny said with a satisfied smiled as all the other girls blinked in shock. "Now that I can hear myself think, I believe it's high time we made a battle plan, girls. Jo, I need you to rally the boys up down at Al's flat! You'll find them all in various stages of comatose-like states, so you need to be strong! Lily!" Auntie Ginny's daughter quickly glanced up from the phone. "Tell whoever you're talking to that we're on the way to the church now! Sophie, please gather up any pieces of your dresses that you can find and we will attempt to fix them at the church! Libby, for god's sake, get out of that curtain! Rosie, get Bea in that wedding dress and out the front door in less than five minutes and I swear, I'll buy you whatever you want! Are we all clear, ladies?!"

Libby snapped a salute. "Yes, sir!" she barked.

Auntie Ginny just gave a satisfied smile. "Then girls, let's move out!"

As the girls rushed in a flurry of motion, I just moved to throw my arms around my auntie tightly. "Auntie Ginny, you are amazing."

"Why thank you," she said, pulling back so she could give me a smile. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to hand over the reins to you, though. I only came to check on everyone; I didn't think there would be a total catastrophe happening! I've got to get home, you know what the Weasley's are like, no one is _near_ ready. I have to get back to make sure that Harry keeps his head! Can I trust you to get everyone to the church?"

"I certainly hope so," I said with a grimace. "Hey, since you locked Queen Godzilla out of the flat, does that mean we can forgo the carriage and just Apparate to the church?"

"Bea's Muggle-born, Rosie," Auntie Ginny reminded me with a laugh. "Magic is completely out. Though I wouldn't be opposed to having that carriage disappearing somehow. It's causing a right mess down in the street."

"Thanks, Auntie Ginny."

I honestly thought that I could pull ranks and get things together. In fact, for a while, it looked like we were actually going to make it! The girls bustled around the flat, gathering ruined dresses and poking and prodding at Bea with enough hair and make-up products to last a lifetime. However, when we had half an hour until the wedding, Al and Scorpius decided to show up.

I know, what the hell? They burst through the door, which, rather unfortunately, let Queen Godzilla back inside in a ginormous rage of hell.

"AL!" Bea cried the second she saw her soon-to-be-husband. She lept up from where Libby had been tuggng her hair into a stylish bun and her curls bounced around her shoulders once more and she threw her arms around Al's neck. "Thank god! I'm so sorry that I thought I couldn't marry you!"

"Wha'?" Al said, rather confused.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Queen Godzilla shrieked. "GET OUT, NOW! IT'S BAD LUCK!"

"Hey!" Bea yelled at her from over Al's shoulder. "Annie! _Screw you_!"

"Eloquent," Lily said, observing the huge mess.

"Scorpius, what the HELL is going on?!" I said, deciding to leave the Bowmen sisters to scream it out on their own.

"Well, I managed to get him to stop drinking," Scorpius shrugged, thankfully in his wedding attire, unlike the rest of us. While Al only had managed to get into his shirt and tie, Scorpius had his full tux on and I nearly fainted just looking at him. Ahem. I mean, this totally wasn't the time. "Now, he's only _mostly_ drunk."

"Bloody brilliant," I said. "Where're the other boys?"

"James, Hugo and Trevor are just getting changed now, Jo took the other boys to the church in a taxi," Scorpius explained. "I was trying to make Al get changed, but he sort of insisted on seeing Bea and I couldn't exactly stop him."

"Yeah, bastard's strong when he wants to."

"Kind of like someone else I know," Scorpius said, raising an eyebrow at me. I chose to ignore that and my neck slowly turning red. When Scorpius glanced at the rest of the girls, he added, "I take it you lot aren't exactly ready yet either?"

"Apparently, there was a slight altercation with the dresses," I said.

"Meaning, they got blown up!" Libby pointed out.

"Are you wearing a _curtain_?"

"Look, I only got ninety per cent in my Transfiguration NEWT, it was my worst subject, ok?!"

I was starting to form a plan in my mind, but it involved a bit of spy work, which I didn't think this lot was up to at the current moment. Stealth wasn't exactly their forte. But if we wanted to get out of here, we were going to have to give Queen Godzilla the slip.

"All right everyone, listen up!" I called, kicking Queen Godzilla in the shin to make her shut up. "We have to get to the church _now_! I don't care what you're wearing, just get out the front door! Annie?" I turned as sweetly as I could to Bea's sister as the other girls, plus Al and Scorpius, made their way out into the corridor, only sort of half-panicking. Queen Godzilla glared at me, but I noticed the recoil; she still feared my slap from this morning. "I have a _special job_ for you. I need you to go talk to the horse-carriage driver, or whatever the hell he's called, out in the street and make sure he knows where he's going, ok? We will wait for you in the lobby of the building, yeah?"

"… Bea's going to be bloody screwed, marrying into _your_ family," was all she said before storming out the front door.

Like I've said before, such a _lovely_ woman.

Somehow, though, my spy plan worked! While Queen Godzilla spoke to the man who directed the horse and carriage – seriously, the entire thing was _pink_, it made me want to throw up – the rest of us quickly darted out behind her back, all of us practically tumbling over each other with laughter as we hurtled around the corner, hoping to get away before she could see us. Trevor, Hugo and James joined us in the lobby and they ran down the street with us, the three of them in their formal wedding attire and looking like they'd much rather be playing Quidditch or something. With ten of us, we wouldn't exactly be hard to miss, so I forced us to practically sprint for the train station.

When, finally, I deemed us far away enough down the road for us to be able to hide, should Queen Godzilla come looking, we all collapsed straight onto the pavement outside a fruit and vege shop. It was beautifully sunny outside and London's city centre was absolutely packed. Al was laughing with his arms around his fiancée. "I can't believe we ran away from your sister!" he was saying. "I told you … we should have run away from this whole wedding!"

"No, _I _said we should elope," Bea pointed out to him with a grin. "_You _wanted your family there."

"Ah, who cares about family?" Al said, waving a hand dismissively.

Both James and Lily gave, 'oi!' sounds, but Al just ignored them. Instead, he just cried, "A toast!" and pulled a bottle from his trouser pocket; it was pure Billywig Blast, a very strong alcohol that could send even the hardest of drinkers off their faces in a few sips. I had no idea where the hell _that_ had come from, but the surprises of today seemed to be never ending. I should have expected it. "To my wedding!"

"I thought I told you to get him OFF the booze?" I said, exasperatedly to Scorpius.

"Y'know what, Rose?" Scorpius said. He took the bottle from Al, opened it, and took a gulp. He shook his head with his eyes closed as the alcohol went to his head. Then, he handed the bottle to me and said, "Just lighten the hell up! It's Al and Bea's wedding!"

I eyed the bottle for a second, before snatching it out of his hand to take a drink. Ah, what the hell? Best fun I've had all day!

* * *

"Ok, this is getting just slightly ridiculous!" I yelled, but my words had absolutely no effect on our wonderful, tipsy group. One gulp of Al's 'blast had definitely been enough for my head (considering it very nearly exploded, I swear) but the others didn't seem to care that we had all communally gotten drunk about twelve hours ago. Since we had clearly forgone the use of the horse-drawn carriage to get us to the church on the opposite side of the city, we were forced to make our way there by train. Normally, the train station wasn't far from our block of flats, but what with Al and Bea stopping every now and then to feel each other up in the middle of the footpath, we were making very slow progress.

"Rosie, you seriously need to relax," James said smoothly, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "We'll get there!"

"Eventually," Libby snorted, walking on James' other side with her arm around his waist. Trevor laughed at her comment as he handed over the 'blast to Sophie. It was funny, I had never pegged Sophie as a drinker, even at the hens party, but she had proven us all wrong by knocking back at least three shots and still being able to walk straight. My respect for the girl had suddenly grown, and I made a mental note that once this was all over, I should invite her to a girls night; she could probably drink us all under the table.

"It seriously doesn't worry you lot that we're probably going to get _arrested_?" I said at large, but of course everyone just waved me off. Hugo was even calling out hi to every single passer-by, all million of them in the street. Lily walked next to him with her arm looped through his, laughing as Scorpius trudged along behind them. "We've all been drinking in the middle of bloody town, the police could probably come and arrest us for public consumption of alcohol or something!"

"Oh, lighten up, would you?" Scorpius said, almost laughing.

"No!" I cried. "Scorpius, this entire day is going balls up and if I got any _lighter_, I'd be unconscious!"

"Well, what did you expect, going to work the same day as your best friend's wedding?" Scorpius pointed out.

"_Excuse me_?"

"Uh … I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, I swear …" Scorpius was right to look somewhat frightened. He tried to shuffle past me, but I grabbed his arm and yanked him back. I was making us pause in the middle of a very busy footpath in front of a large department store, but I didn't care.

"Scorpius, I have done _nothing_ but trying to keep this day together," I all but snarled. "What did _you_ do? Oh! That's right, you _slept_ until midday and watched my cousin get drunk off his face!"

"To be fair," Al said cheerfully, his arms resting around Bea's shoulders from his position behind her. "I _did_ threaten to revoke my approval of you two if he didn't give me the bottle back."

"Al!" I yelled, turning to send my glare at him. "Now is _not_ the time!"

"Y'know what? The hell it isn't, we can make this the right time," Scorpius suddenly said and I snapped my head back round to him so fast, my neck clicked. "In fact, we can do this right now."

What? What was he saying? That we were just going to talk about our relationship _now_? In the middle of the street, a little bit tipsy and surrounded by hundreds of people? Is he bloody _insane_?!

"Rose, I–"

"_Scorpius, what the hell are you doing_?" I hissed.

"Rose, we are both so close to the edge that we're seriously about to _lose it_," Scorpius cried, gesturing with his arms for effect. "You're snapping at me, I'm snapping at you … we need to fix this, figure out _something_, before we both go nuts!"

"This day is _not _about us, and not here _in front of everyone_–" I started, glancing around warily. I had noticed that several bystanders were letting their eyes linger as they passed our group, clearly wanting to know why we were bickering in the middle of the street.

"Why not?!" Scorpius said, his face alive. "Al, Bea, you don't mind, right?"

"Not at all!" Bea answered.

"… _what's he going to do_?" Al whispered in her ear.

"God, Scorpius–" I said, but I might as well not have spoken.

"Rose, I _love_ you, or have you _forgotten_ that?" Scorpius said, exasperatedly. I swear, the collective gasp from our friends was almost comical. Libby was hitting at James' chest, clearly trying to point out this spectacle to him, even though both their eyes hadn't left us since we'd started yelling. "We both said that this was what we wanted! We were going to give it another shot–"

"After the wedding! Hell, it had been _your idea_!"

"I know," Scorpius admitted. "But if the past two days have taught me anything, it's that, life is _short_. You might say what's another day, but hell, we could all be hit by a bus crossing the street! I let myself get _punched out_ for you–"

"_Let_? That's rich–" I started.

"–I _protected_ you," Scorpius cut back in over me. "I want more than stolen kisses in the hallway and strangled 'I love you's after a one-night stand. You … you're _amazing_, Rose Weasley, and I don't want to spend another minute without calling you mine. God, I hate you most days, but on others you're the most stubborn, irresistible, irrational, fierce woman I've _ever_ met!"

Oh, god. My heart was thumping erratically. Seriously, Scorpius? Why, _why_ are you saying all this now? This was supposed to take place in my bedroom, where no one could hear and we could talk without other people staring at us.

What is wrong with my life?

"Scorpius–"

"No, I'm done waiting," Scorpius said, tugging away once again as I tried to grab at his arm. "I can't take this insane tension anymore! So get it into your head, I love you! Everyone already knows it! Hell, just in case they don't, I LOVE YOU! YOU HEAR THAT?!" Scorpius suddenly strode over to the steps that led up to the department store. Our friends all gaped at him with expressions that were a mixture of shocked and amused. Pretty much everyone going past in and out of that building stopped and stared as Scorpius threw out his arms and yelled out, "I'M IN LOVE WITH ROSE WEASLEY!"

"_Oh, my god_!" I cried, storming forward. People continued to stare and several laughed as, since his arms were out of reach, I grabbed Scorpius by the waist and yanked him back down off the stairs.

It was around that point when Harley turned up, running towards us down the street with an extremely confused expression.

"_What the hell is wrong with you_?!" I yelled.

"What the hell is _going on_?" I heard Harley asked our group at large.

"Um, it's Scorpius and Rose," James answered. "They started arguing … I think you can figure out the rest."

"I don't get it, what's the big deal here?" Hugo said, sounding confused. "I mean, if they still love each other, why's my sister being an idiot about it?"

"Oh, there was a night of poor timing and a _lot_ of sex," Al blurted out.

"God," I turned to see my brother screw up his nose. "_Really_ didn't need to know that."

"Seriously?" Harley put in, cocking a hip and looking frustrated. "You're standing here, rowing in the middle of the street, when you should be making your way to the church? I just went back to my flat because I forgot my camera and I noticed Queen Godzilla going on the rampage, trying to find you lot! Some bloke told me that a huge group went off in his direction, though he failed to mention the bottle of Billywig Blast!" She gestured to James, who was still holding the bottle. He guiltily tried to hide it behind Libby's back. "Why are you busy screaming at each other when you should be getting Al and Bea to their WEDDING?"

"Actually, I kind of don't mind …" Bea pointed out from Al's arms.

"_Not_ the point, Bea," Libby reminded her with a grin.

Of course at that point, Scorpius and I both started yelling at the same time, trying to explain our sides of the argument; Scorpius yelling that it was stupid of us to get lost in this crazy waiting game, even though we both still loved each other, and myself yelling that this was probably the worse time in the world to be talking about this. I didn't mention that, well … Scorpius was right. I missed him. _God_, I bloody missed him, and I didn't want to have to wait until tomorrow to sort this out. But in the middle of the street was completely _crazy_, especially with Sophie standing all but four feet away. While we were busy yelling, I glanced at her, but she didn't seem to really care that she had been thrown smack into the middle of all this; in fact, she looked kind of _excited_, as if this was a PV show she really enjoyed watching! I had to give the girl something for going with her heart.

This would normally be about when Bea would snap at me to stop listening to my head and go with my heart. Scorpius had always owned a part of it, whether I liked it or not.

"Ok, SHUT IT!" Harley roared and Scorpius and I both reluctantly fell silent. "… clearly you two have issues."

"When haven't we?" I muttered.

"But if you want to stop the screaming, Scorpius is right: you have to bloody SORT this, and sort it NOW!"

"But–"

"_Now_," Harley glared. "I'm sorry, Sophie," she added to Scorpius's ex. "This has to be awkward for you."

"I've been expecting this ever since we got together," Sophie laughed. "This is hardly as awkward as I thought."

"Brilliant, then," Harley turned back to us. "Look, Weasley has a point, Scorpius; this is hardly the place for this conversation," She gestured all around us to the innocent bystanders who weren't even pretending that they weren't blatantly listening anymore. They were craning over shoulders and some even had video phones out. "You can talk, you _will_ talk, properly, later. But Weasley, Scorpius has a point as well," I gave her a desperate look that she ignored. "You're stuck in this limbo and it's not just driving _yourselves_ mad anymore. Watching you two argue is like when Al and Bea refused to have sex for weeks on end! Get it over with and say you'll be with him again, so we can get Al and Bea married, down a bottle of Firewhiskey, and all just _go bloody home_!"

Libby actually high-fived Harley at that, which was surprising enough without her outburst. Knowing that there was no other way around this – and, admittedly, not wanting to get around it – I turned back to Scorpius, who was suddenly far from that cocky, sure of himself bloke who was here five minutes ago. Now, he looked anxious, avoiding my gaze as he shuffled his feet.

"Scorpius …"

"I've said my part," he cut in, talking to the ground. "This is up to you, Rose."

"Hell, you at least understand why this is _hard_, right?"

"Yes, it's _hard_," Scorpius said, exasperatedly. "It's all wrong, but screw it, _that's us_! If you can't … if you really can't do that anymore, then just say. I won't be strung along."

I stared at him, my voice strangled. "… you know I can't do that," I told him.

"Oh, really, why?"

"You _know_ why!"

"So?" Scorpius gave me that infuriating grin of his.

"You're actually going to make me say it again, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"FINE!" I suddenly burst out. "_I'm still in love with you_! You know it, I know it, HELL, everyone on this bloody STREET knows it!" I added, noticing several shifty looks from the bystanders. I noticed that several were starting looking concerned and one was even staring at us as she spoke down her phone. Not far down the road, I could hear the sirens of a Muggle police car. "And you WIN, ok?! I keep saying that this isn't the right time, but there will _never_ be a right time with us, so you're right, who _cares_? I can't stand this tension either, so I love you and nothing else matters! I–"

Scorpius strode towards me, cutting me off within two strides as he yanked behind my head and kissed me fiercely. I grabbed his jacket lapels, pulling him as close as possible, kissing him back with as much force as I could muster. While wild and enthusiastic, I tried to downplay the passion to the best of my ability – we were still in the middle of the street, here – but every moment of it, I would feel nothing except the love pouring through his lips. Vaguely, I could hear our friends cheering loudly and what sounded rather like applause from our small audience, but I barely cared.

Oh, _hell_, this was right.

Eventually, Libby accidentally fell over a dustbin in her enthusiasm and we broke apart at the noise. We both ended up laughing as Libby swore on the ground and James, trying and failing to contain his mirth, reached out a hand to help her up, asking between his giggles if she was all right. Bea was squealing like a guinea pig and Lily and Trevor were both jumping up and down together like little kids on sugar. Hugo was whooping and Harley was moving to place her arm around Sophie's shoulders. While if this had been any other circumstance it might have been out of pity, both girls were smiling. Still holding onto Scorpius, I caught Sophie's eye and mouthed, "_Thank you_."

Sophie simply nodded at me with her content expression.

I turned back to Scorpius and found my smile grow wider; he was grinning down at me like he'd stuck a coat hanger in his mouth. "We are … insane," I told him.

"I know," he admitted.

"There's no way of knowing if this will ever completely work."

"We managed almost seven years last time."

"We fight all the time!"

"Are you _trying_ to make excuses?"

I considered. "You're right," I said. "Who cares?"

When I kissed him again, Trevor positively shrieked. "Oh, my god!" he yelled. "I can't believe it, I actually _won_, for a change! I said before the wedding, right?"

"What? No, you've got to be kidding me …" Lily's voice said in horror. "I said _at_ the wedding! It's the day of, right?"

"No, no way! We haven't even _reached_ the wedding yet, cough it up!"

"_No_!"

And we ignored the sounds of Lily Potter finally losing a bet.

Conclusion to … well, Scorpius: 

-Today, I've slapped someone, been screamed at, been rewarded and kissed someone in the middle of the street. My life is just crazy.

-Apparently, the police agreed with me! We were actually forced to break apart once more, so they could escort us down the road to the reserve not far from our block of flats, where there was no liquor ban.

-Though off the record, just as they were leaving, one of the police officers told me that our screaming match had been the most romantic thing she'd ever seen.

-My life may be crazy, but Scorpius makes it crazy and to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Rose: 25, Scorpius: 22.

(While I might normally combine our scores at this part, c'mon! I'm _winning_!).

* * *

A/N: Oh, Rose and Scorpius. I figured Lily would lose this one, since she's been traveling the world most of this story; she's good, but she's not _that_ good. I just seriously hope you enjoyed this. Yes, it was supposed to parallel the argument that ultimately got them together back in GIR. And a talk between them will come, don't worry. :)

(I swear, the actual wedding is in the next chapter).

_Note:_ I still have no computer (currently on flatmates') so if I do not reply to reviews right away, that is why.

Thank you once again for the spectacular, spectacular reviews! Please, let me know what you think!

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	34. The Epic One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, weddings, toasts or "here's to the future"s.

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 33: The Epic One.

"I can't believe we had to have a police escort!" Libby was saying indignantly, folding her arms in a huff. "Honestly!"

"Lib, _you_ were the one who almost got arrested for drunk and disorderly behaviour," James pointed out, poking Libby in the side as she sat on his lap. "This is the last time I _ever_ let you get hyped up on Billywig Blast! Bro, I'm blaming you!" he added to Al.

My cousin just shrugged, lounging on the grass in front of him. "This is turning out to be the best day ever, mate," he said. "And I haven't even gotten married yet!"

The eleven of us had crowded around a large park bench near the street in the reserve down the road from our flats. After being escorted here by the police, we were forced to ponder how on earth we were supposed to get to the bloody church for the wedding. We were even further from the train station, Queen Godzilla could be about to launch in with the cavalry at any moment (along with a horse-drawn carriage, but that was another story) and from the way Al and Bea just curled into each other on the grass, it looked like they couldn't care less that we were supposed to be at the church ten minutes ago.

Sophie and Harley had sat down next to James on the park bench, while Libby plonked herself onto her boyfriend's lap. For some reason, the two girls seemed to have struck up a tentative friendship; I had no bloody clue what Harley and Sophie could possibly have in common, but if there was anyone who could see through Harley's faults, it was Sophie.

The rest of us had collapsed onto the grass, Trevor excitedly claiming that he, in his words, 'knew that Rose and Scorpius would _totally_ get off before the wedding!' Lily was busy trying to argue her case while Hugo just backed Trevor up. I listened to the debates with a grin, sat with Scorpius in the grass. Leaning back into his chest, him leaning on one hand and his other looped around my waist, it was the best I'd felt since we'd broken up.

_I've got Scorpius back_! Ahem. I mean, c'mon Rose, tone down the screaming.

"Well, what the hell do we do now?" Libby asked at large. "Don't get me wrong, it's great that Rosie and Scorpius sorted out their shit and everything, but there's sort of still a church full of people waiting for us to turn up!"

"Not to mention that Queen Godzilla must be ready to _kill_ us!" Lily added with a laugh, abandoning her fight for the moment. She didn't even seem worried about the potential death that awaited her.

"We should have wrapped her in cling-film for at _least _another two layers," Sophie pointed out.

"Oh, is _that_ what we did to her?" I asked.

"It was your idea, Rose!" Sophie said.

"Well, you know what?" Bea sat up, dragging Al with her. Sprawled in the grass in her jeans and Ravenclaw jumper, she looked like she had just rolled out of bed and had thrown on the first clothes she could find so she could go buy ice cream at the shop across the street. There was no way she looked like a bride and besides, I think we had accidentally left her monstrosity of a dress back in the lobby of our building before we pulled a spy move and ran out of there. But she didn't seem to care at all. "I say to hell with the wedding!"

"What?" Al stared at her.

"Hear me out," Bea assured him before turning back to the rest of us. "We all hate my sister and my mother and their fancy planning! I'm supposed to be getting married in front of hundreds of people, most of which I don't even _know_! There's going to be a menagerie of animals there and this just _isn't _what either of us wanted! Al?"

Al grinned at his fiancée. "All I want is something small and for Bea and my mates to be there!"

"Well, we might not be able to manage a wedding," Harley pointed out, her arms resting across her knees. "But I would like to point out that all of your closest mates are here with you."

"Then screw our wedding, let's have a party right here in the reserve!" Al cried, punching the air and everyone cheered.

As everyone chatted and laughed together, the Billywig Blast thankfully being set aside in favour of nursing future pounding heads, I noticed that Bea's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. I reached out to nudge her with my foot. Scorpius gave me a weird look, but it wasn't the oddest thing I'd ever done, so he quickly shrugged it off, talking to Trevor next to him. Even though I had his voice in my ear, I asked Bea, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing!" she told me. "I don't have to hitch a ride down an aisle by an elephant, it's a miracle!"

"Your mum and sister are going to _kill_ you," I pointed out.

"That's not what's worrying me."

"Ah, so you _are _worried?" I said with a grin.

Bea just snorted, shoving me back with her own foot. "Ok, fine," she said. "Everyone, can you listen please?" she called out and everyone turned back to her and Al, the latter looking confused. Bea turned so she could look her fiancé in the eye and said, "I'm glad I don't have to marry you with all the theatrics," she said, clearly. "But … well, I admit, once I stopped freaking out, I was really looking forward to actually just _marrying_ you …"

"I know," Al seemed to have the same thought. "All we want is something simple–" He cut himself off, eyes suddenly wide. Then, his face split into a huge grin. "Bea! I have an idea! You want to get married today, right?"

"… right," Bea said, obviously wondering where he was going with this.

"Then let's _get_ married!" he said, excitedly.

"Al, where the heck are you planning?"

"Bea, we've got the perfect situation!" he cried, sitting up on his knees to face her. "We've got all our closest friends and family here! Lucy's got a camera, we have a lovely venue," he added, gesturing to the park around us, the sun shining through the leaves on the trees. "There's a wedding waiting for us at that church, but that's Queen Godzilla's wedding, not ours! This is _our_ wedding, right here! Bea, why not get married _right now_?"

Al's smile was infectious. I was already beaming, Lily had stuffed her fist into her mouth to stop herself from giggling and Bea's smile was slowing growing bigger as she also sat up onto her knees, mirroring Al's stance on the ground in front of her. She placed her hands around his neck before saying, "Summon the minister!" and kissing him hard on the mouth.

"Way ahead of you, girl!" Libby cried, already waving her wand.

With a few concealment charms to block the sudden appearance of a man in the middle of the reserve from the Muggles, we summoned the minister from the church to the park in only a couple of minutes. Naturally, he was extremely confused as to how he had suddenly travelled across the entire city and ended up being surrounded by a bunch of tipsy young adults in a public reserve.

"What the–?" the old man said, blinking through his glasses.

"Mr Minister, we'd like one marriage, please!" Al said, already on his feet and clapping him on the shoulder.

"Oh, I–" He paused, squinting at Al. "Wait, aren't you Mr Potter and Miss Bowmen? I was supposed to be performing your ceremony twenty minutes ago!"

"Yeah, about that," Bea said, grabbing onto my arm and we both helped each other to our feet. The rest of us all scrambled up, suddenly very excited, Hugo having already taken Harley's camera and starting to snap photos of everything. "We decided to forgo the elephant and live doves and decided just to get married here!"

"Er … here?" the minister repeated.

"Yes, here!" Al agreed.

"In the middle of a … park?"

"That's the one!"

"Are you sure?" the minister asked, taking in our weird outfit choices and probably noticing our not exactly one hundred per cent sound minds. Well, Libby _was_ wearing a curtain. "You don't exactly look like you're fit for a wedding …"

"Look, I am the Maid of Honour here," I cut in, dragging Scorpius next to me. "And this is the Best Man. If you want, we will both ask the bride and groom if this is what they have decided on for their wedding, and judge whether we think they sound genuine. Yeah?"

Thankfully, the minister reluctantly agreed. Scorpius and I both turned to Al and Bea.

"Al," Scorpius said. "You want to get married like this?"

"Bea, you're sure this is what you want?" I added.

Al and Bea both glanced at each other for a second before turning back and saying at the same time,

"_Hell yeah_!"

"Well," I said, throwing an arm around the minister. "I dunno about you, but that's good enough for me! Let's get this wedding on the road!"

The next few minutes were spent 'planning' for Al and Bea's new wedding. As Lily and Harley shunted the minister around, trying to find the best location for the wedding to take place, Trevor and Hugo ran to the nearest cheap Muggle shop to buy some balloons for decorations. Thanks to a helium charm, we soon had about a fifty colourful balloons tied to the park bench and our wrists with string. Lily and Harley argued over where the minister should stand, but eventually it was agreed that he would stand on the bench while Al and Bea would be in front of him, the rest of us surrounding in a sort of semi-circle.

Excitement shivered through our group as the minister blinked in bemusement. Nevertheless, he still began the ceremony, "Ladies and gentlemen … or rather, those who are actually here," the minister added. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls …"

Al and Bea looked so thrilled, holding hands and with eyes for no one but each other. They even had their rings, since it was Scorpius's job to look after them. In amongst one of our bickering fights, he had told me that he'd been so paranoid about losing them, that he had locked them in his sock drawer up until today, but thankfully had remembered to bring them with him. At this point, I was traditionally supposed to be holding the bridal bouquet, but clearly, a bunch of balloons was going to have to suffice.

"Bea," Al said as he received the ring for Bea's finger. "I had this brilliant speech for our vows, but I, er, left it at home. So I'm going to just have to wing it … look, I love you, and I don't want to _ever_ be without you. That's basically the long and short of it, so before things get emotional and I start crying, here," Bea was trying not to laugh as he placed her ring on her finger.

"Al, I had so much trouble trying to figure out what to say to you," Bea told him. "But I think I can remember most of what I eventually came up with. Originally, I didn't know where to start. As it turns out, we started with Rosie," To my surprise, both of them turned to glance at me and I swear, I nearly started crying just from the looks on their faces; they were so _happy_. "If it hadn't been for her, we never would have met. And every single bloody day, I just want to hug her because my life is _nothing _without you in it. I can't even begin to describe how much I love you and I can't _wait_ to be a Potter." She took her ring from Scorpius and placed it on Al's finger.

I swear, James was actually crying, though he was currently trying to hide his face behind Libby's head, so I couldn't be certain. Sophie was grinning, standing between Harley and Hugo and when I caught her eye, her smile didn't fade.

"Do you … er, I'm sorry, I left my notes at the church, what's your full name?" the minister asked my cousin.

Al sighed. "Albus Severus."

"Right, do you, Albus Severus, take Bea … sorry, is it Beatrice?"

"Beatrice Lauren," Bea nodded.

"… take Beatrice Lauren as your wedded wife …"

In no time at all, Al and Bea had exchanged 'I do's and were kissing as husband and wife. The minister actually looked like he was enjoying this as the rest of us all screamed and cheered for our best friends. Trevor bent down to the park ground and took several flower petals that had long fallen off the surrounding bushes to throw over the newly married couple. Hugo shoved the camera into the poor minister's chest and practically dragged him off the bench, insisting that he take our picture.

The nine of us crowded on and around the bench behind Al and Bea, who were both ignoring us completely and were still kissing each other. I didn't realise that we had yet another audience until we were facing the camera and I realised that several people walking through the reserve had stopped to stare and try and figure out what was going on. Scorpius and I managed to jump onto the bench, right behind our best friends and with an arm around each other; Harley stood on the ground, leaning against Scorpius's leg, Sophie kneeling on the bench behind her; James and Hugo had both tried to jump onto the bench on my other side, however, Hugo had managed to miss the landing and was now swinging off our older cousin's arm; Lily stood in front of James, who was simultaneously leaning with an arm around his sister's neck and trying to keep Hugo from killing himself; and Trevor was sat on the bench next to Harley, Libby unable to find a place to stand without blocking someone's view, so decided just to plonk herself down on Trevor's lap, curtain and all. Then the minister was calling, "Everybody smile!" and we were all grinning like idiots as he snapped several photos.

"Hey, everyone, to Al and Bea!" I called out.

"TO AL AND BEA!" we all cried and I swore right then and there, that that photo would stay on my wall forever.

* * *

We got to the actual wedding eventually … about two hours late.

We had decided to walk to the opposite side of the city. Al and Bea were so ecstatic that they didn't even mind going to the church, thinking it would only be polite to let their families know that they had already gotten married. I was just looking forward to seeing the look on Uncle Harry's face and the idea of dancing with Scorpius at the reception.

I thought it was rather pathetic of me to be so happy, but I honestly couldn't help it! The entire walk to the church we held hands, letting them swing between us as we bickered about pretty much everything that we hadn't been able to in the past six months. By the time we actually got there, we were both red in the face and Lily kept batting balloons in our faces in an attempt to make us shut up, but Scorpius effectively did that by kissing me whenever he got well and truly pissed off.

"Hey everyone!" Bea called once we approached the church. Getting sick of waiting, most of the guests were standing outside, milling around and waiting for something to happen. I noticed that a large truck labelled 'animal control' was currently trying to wrangle several peacocks into the back. Queen Godzilla was there, along with the carriage, and she looked absolutely furious. Bea didn't seem to care, though, waltzing straight up to her sister and announcing loudly to the crowd, "Guess what?! _I got married_!"

"You WHAT?!" Mrs Bowmen cried, shoving her way forward.

"Bea Bowmen, do you have ANY idea what you've _ruined_?!" Queen Godzilla yelled, stamping her foot and gesturing to the animal control truck. "We could only keep the peacocks for two hours and you have somehow managed to completely screw up your own wedding! All you had to do was _show up_!"

"And I didn't!" Bea said, happily. "Funny the way things turn out, isn't it? All right, everybody, listen up!" she called over the crowd, several people sticking their heads out the doors of the church, apparently the word spreading that the bride and groom had finally shown up. "If I have never met you before this day, I want you to get the hell out of here! I don't care if you're my fourth cousin twice removed or whatever, _leave_!"

Several people started murmuring amongst themselves. While Al and Bea giggled together like the newlyweds they were, the entire Potter/Weasley clan started making their way forward. While there might be a lot of them, even Queen Godzilla had to admit that it was because we were actually all still close. Coming in a pack like that, they could be rather intimidating!

"Al, mate!" Teddy called out, clapping a hand on Al's shoulder. "Are you telling us that you didn't even show up for your own wedding and instead, _got married somewhere else_?"

"In the reserve down the road from our flat, to be precise!" Al agreed.

Queen Godzilla looked positively appalled at that. It only got better when Bea told her that balloons had been the only decorations and that the only animals within ten metres had been the pigeons cooing in the trees. She practically fainted as several people from her own family simply up and left; the wedding was already over, so they had no other reason to stay.

"_Please_ tell me that you at least got photos?" Auntie Ginny asked, kissing her son on the side of his head.

"Several, Hugo wouldn't stop taking them!" I told her.

Auntie Ginny just exchanged an exasperated look with Uncle Harry, whose face was indeed priceless. This was the first marriage of his three children and he'd completely missed it! It was no wonder he looked like someone had smacked him.

"Albus Potter," Uncle Harry said and despite his clear euphoria, Al visibly cringed into his new wife's side. "Just answer me one question … is this the best day you've ever had?"

Al glanced up at his father for a moment. I knew that Al and Uncle Harry had always been close, and it had only just occurred to me that Al probably felt rather guilty for getting married without him there. Nevertheless, Al steeled himself, his arm tightening around Bea's waist as he answered,

"_Dad, this is the best god-damned day of my life_."

Uncle Harry nodded with a grin. "Good answer," he said, reaching out and hugging both his son and daughter-in-law.

"Bea," Auntie Ginny added, once Uncle Harry pulled away. "I swear, the second you announce that you are pregnant, you will _not_ leave our sides until they are born. Understand me?"

Bea just laughed. "Yes, Mrs Potter."

"Hey!" Libby cut in, stepping forward. "Bea, you're Mrs Potter now as well!"

"That sounds _incredible_," Al said, turning to his new wife.

"Mr Potter, I propose that we have a wedding reception," Bea said with a grin. "How about you?"

"I quite agree, Mrs Potter."

* * *

Uncle Harry's approval didn't mean that he was exactly _happy_ about missing his first child's wedding; in fact, half an hour later, he was lamenting to me about how he had failed as a father over his glass of wine and how he wished he could throw another wedding to make up for it. Almost thankfully at that point, Uncle Harry had caught sight of his only daughter dancing with a tall bloke with curly hair that he'd never met before and I had had the delightful job of answering the question, "Who the bloody hell is _that_?!" with, "Oh, that's your daughter's new boyfriend. But don't call him that, she'll scratch your eyes right out."

Dave was taller than Uncle Harry, but naturally the poor bloke still seemed rather intimidated as my uncle stormed over. Lily didn't even try and defend him; she just stood back with a manic grin and watched the entertainment play out as Uncle Harry grilled Dave with a million questions from, 'Where exactly are you from?' all the way to 'Do you know what a condom is?'

The wedding reception was _supposed_ to be out in the countryside manor of Bea's great-aunt; however, since the two had never even met before today, we'd been forced to move the festivities to the church's events hall, which had thankfully not been booked for that day. Large and roomy, there was enough space for everyone, plus a wireless, since we had no DJ, band, or anyone willing to sing. There were only a few chairs for people to sit down on and no food, so eventually we would all have to go out for dinner, lest our stomachs eat themselves. But if we flicked the lights on and off with the wireless turned up on full blast, it was easy to think that this was the best wedding reception ever.

Al and Bea didn't care that they were dancing to random Muggle songs that they'd never even heard of; they just moved about on the 'dance floor', otherwise known as the middle of the hall. It didn't even matter that Al sucked at dancing, since they just wrapped their arms around each other and swayed slightly, occasionally getting caught up in stolen kisses. I laughed and danced with pretty much everyone in my family; I even got spun around by one of Bea's cousins and had my feet stomped on by three-year-old Max. But eventually, Max got scooped up by Victoire and Scorpius was suddenly there, pulling me in.

"Trying to be charming, I've noticed …" I said, an arm around his neck and holding onto his other hand tightly.

Scorpius snorted at me. "I just can't win with you, can I?" he said.

"Not ever. You know me."

"Merlin, do I …"

We were silent for almost an entire song, just moving in time to the upbeat music, watching our friends and family have a good time; Libby and Toby had managed to find a broom somewhere and were currently holding it up as a limbo stick. Toby flirted with another one of Bea's blond cousins as she shimmied her way under the limbo. Granddad Arthur and Grandma Molly were tottering around the dance floor together, dancing an old waltz that didn't quite match the rock music, but I don't think they particularly cared. I noticed Trevor scoffing down cheesy snacks and liquor that Uncle Charlie had picked up from the shop down the road and, once again, I found my eyes moving to watch Al and Bea wrapped up in each other. I leaned my head against Scorpius's chest, watching my best friends speak softly to each other over the music. The love in their eyes was captivating and I knew that if there was ever a chance that I could feel half as happy as they looked, then I definitely wanted to be dancing at my own wedding one day.

That thought made me look up at Scorpius. He met my eyes and it seemed that he was thinking the exact same thing, his gaze shooting straight through my heart and down to my toes. For a wild moment, I forgot where we were and I simply kissed him on the spot, twisting my fingers into his hair and breathing him in. Then, he caused me to squirm as he muttered into my mouth, "Rose … Rose, not _here_ …"

"_Home, then_," I muttered into his lips and I don't think I'd ever seen him move so fast, grabbing my hand and yanking me towards the lobby of the church's events hall. The room was deserted, so thankfully it was safe to Apparate and second later, I found my body being crushed as we accidentally tripped and practically fell onto my bed.

Was it safe to say that I loved that he considered my room 'home'?

I had completely forgotten about the wedding reception and my best friends; my entire life at the moment was just wrapped up in Scorpius. Shoving him onto his back, I straddled his waist, clutching tightly at his hips before letting my hands snake up his sides, under his waist coat and dress shirt. "You have far too many layers on," I growled into his ear before kissing my way down his neck.

"_Rose_," he gasped out as I found a spot that I knew he liked. I grinned as I licked it and Scorpius' hands tightened at my waist, fingers digging in almost painfully.

"Scorpius, I love you," I muttered into his skin, kissing my way to his lips between words. "But if you don't help me get this extremely hot tux off you, I'm gonna–"

"Rose!" Scorpius finally seemed to get a handle on something and his words burst out of him. He suddenly flipped us so my back was smashed into my duvet, but before I could reached up and crush my lips to his once more, he was … _gone_.

Seriously, one second he was there, barely containing a moan against my mouth and the next, he had leapt off me, practically falling off my bed in his haste to get to the other side of the room. Confused, I sat up, missing his burning weight and understandably pissed off.

"… what the hell are you doing?" I said.

"Getting away from you!" Scorpius said, peeling his waistcoat off as he sat down gingerly on the chair at my desk. I got the feeling he had thrown his waistcoat down on his lap rather strategically and I just stared as he avoided my gaze, running a hand hastily through his hair.

"… Scorpius," I began slowly, curling my legs under me in preparation to spring if I had to. "You'd better start explaining, because you just _left me_ over here and, with the way I'm feeling, I think I'd be rather inclined to just killing you soon."

"If you kill me, you can't have your way with me," Scorpius tried, with a feeble laugh.

"Then I'll tie you up _before_ committing murder," I insisted and his eyes widened at that. "Seriously, what's going on?"

"We need to talk," he said at once.

"Oh, god …" My heart threatened to pound out of my chest when I realised. "Really?"

"Before we go … any further," Scorpius started.

"Scorpius, we already went _further_ before we'd even figured out this mess!" I said, exasperatedly.

"Rose, you know if we don't talk about it now, we never will," Scorpius insisted, turning my desk chair so he could face me. "It's time to do this right."

"I … ok," I finally said, trying to calm myself down. I didn't want to think about how this was the conversation that could potentially destroy everything we'd worked so hard to get back. But shoving it to the back of my mind had been one of the reasons we'd broken up in the first place. It was time to sort this. "… you wanna go first?" I asked, hesitantly.

Scorpius shrugged before nodding. For a moment, I was actually glad he was so far away; it was less distracting. "I got pissed at you for treating me like your job was more important," he admitted, speaking to the floor. "You know I'm used to you working long hours, but this past year has been so intense and there were moments when it felt like you didn't even care about anything else. I'm specifically talking about Christmas, here."

I thought back; that had been one of the first indicators that our relationship was going abysmally wrong. "Scorpius, you understand that as long as we're together, you'll be the partner of a Healer?" I asked after a moment. "I mean, the long hours, the exhaustion, it kind of comes with the job … in fact, I think they actually have a club for people like you."

"That wouldn't surprise me," Scorpius gave a half-hearted grin. "And I understand, Rose, but–"

"No, I didn't mean it like that, let me finish," I insisted. I laced my fingers together, moving to sit cross-legged on my bed. "Scorpius, I see now how you must have felt and honestly, at the time, I didn't even realise I was doing it. The stress of the job is never going to go away and I'd never give it up, but at least, one way or another, in a couple of weeks the training will be over. That's something. And I forever give you permission to call me out if I'm ever horrible to you because I'm over-worked."

"I've thought of something else that would help fix it," Scorpius put in then, accepting my words. "If we lived together."

My face snapped up to lock with his. He was still giving me that grin, but he still looked like he was waiting for me to punch him. "I know that being a Healer is not an easy job, but I'll do whatever I can to help you live through it. I think it might be your turn, Rose …" he added, since my shocked face was clearly not going away any time soon.

I snapped my mouth shut. "Yes," I said at once. "Scorpius, you _shut me out_. Whenever the topic of a future came up, you would pretend that I wasn't even talking. We managed it once and that was hard enough. It was like this time, when I mentioned the idea of living together, you freaked and went _nuts_!"

"I'll admit, I kind of did," Scorpius said. "and not exactly in a good way."

"_Is _there a good way?" I snorted.

"I could think of something, I'm sure!" Scorpius gave me a genuine smile then and I felt the love for him threaten to spill over. Damn it, Rose, keep control of your bloody heart for five seconds! "… Rose," he said, composing himself. "You were right, moving in together was what we needed. Being able to just come home to each other and relaxing with each other, it would have worked for us. I didn't talk about it because, well, the thought bloody terrified me."

"It terrified me as well," I pointed out. "But I still wanted to do it."

"I know," Scorpius pressed a hand to his head, ran his fingers through his hair. "I know, and I'm so sorry, Rose. I'm sorry for screwing up everything."

"Why _did _it scare you?" I asked.

Scorpius sighed. "You know us, Rose," he said. "You know what we're like. We bicker, we argue, but we always know when to step back, give each other space. If we lived together … I was afraid that I would lose sight of that, that ability to always remember why I love you, despite the arguments. I was afraid that we'd fight so much that we'd …"

"Break up?" I put in, since his voice had trailed off and he didn't seem to be able to find the right words.

Eventually, he glanced back up at me. "Y-yeah," he said in a croaky voice. "But … well, that's already happened now and we still managed to get through it. I guess … I've realised that we can get through any fight. And I know that there will probably be many nights with one of us sleeping on the sofa, but we _belong_ together, Rose."

I smiled at that. "What do you mean, 'one of us'?"

"Well, clearly if it's your fault, you're the one who has to–"

"Oh, no!" I cut in. "The woman is _never_ banished to sleep on the sofa! Besides, this is _my_ bed!"

"When I move in, Rose, it'll be _our_ bed," Scorpius countered.

In the end, I didn't even argue that one; he had said 'when', not 'if'. "So …" I said after a few moments of us simply sitting and grinning at each other like idiots. "As for that long-overdue future talk …"

Scorpius eyed me for a second before taking a deep breath. "Rose, I want to marry you!" he burst out.

I stared. "You're … not–?"

"No, not – not _now_," he was quick to add. "But … soon, Rose. My thoughts haven't changed from all those years ago. I intend on seeing you in a white dress – or any dress for that matter, I really don't care – and swapping vows and I do's with you. Back then I wasn't any less sincere, but I honestly don't really think I understood the gravity of what that would entail. But I've seen it happen for our best friends since then, and Rose … they're so _happy_," The smile he gave me was breath-taking. "Al and Bea, they're so god-damned happy, and hell, I _want_ that. And when I say soon … I mean, don't be surprised if you get a ring before the year is out."

I think my heart was hammering up somewhere near my throat. "Holy … god, you mean that."

"Of course I bloody _mean_ it!" Scorpius said, exasperatedly. "Don't tell me, this is when you say that you're the one getting freaked out now?"

"Oh, kind of," I wasn't afraid to admit it. "But it's a good kind of freaked out, I swear. Marriage and kids, Scorpius I don't just want it, I _need_ it, and I need it with you. We've … we've had our moments, but I promise that I've never been so happy than when I'm with you. You've been a dick about this whole mess, but you've proven yourself multiple times that you've learnt from it. I've learnt, too."

"Like, don't ever let you break up with me again?"

"Don't pretend you're over it."

"_Definitely_ don't go out with someone else two months later."

"Don't throw yourself at a man-whore just for the hell of it."

"Don't let you go," Scorpius said, softly. "Rosie, I love you, and don't … please, just don't _ever_ let me go."

"I won't – wait," I was suddenly sitting bolt upright, staring at him. "What … what did you just say?"

"Uh, don't let me go? I thought that statement was fairly obvious as to its meaning–"

"No, I meant, what did you call me?" I asked, faintly.

"Oh, Rosie?" Scorpius suddenly looked hesitant. "That, um, is your name … don't tell me, this was all too much and now you've lost it completely?"

"No," I said, slowly, savouring it; my name. _Rosie_. "No, it's just … you haven't called me 'Rosie' since we broke up."

"Oh," Scorpius winced. "God, I'm sorry. Would you prefer I didn't?"

"Are you _kidding_?" I said, unable to contain the grin on my face, climbing to my knees and crawling over to him. "Keep _saying_ it. Because this proves it, we're _back_!" Unable to contain myself, when I reached the edge of my bed, I jumped off to grab him by his collar and yank him back towards me; we fell backwards onto my bed and our lips met in a desperate frenzy. On a high from the things we had admitted to each other, we stayed that way for several moments, Scorpius murmuring, "_Rosie … Rosie … Rosie_ …" into my mouth between kisses. For a while, I wasn't sure we'd ever leave my bed again.

"I – mfpt!" I was cut off as Scorpius's mouth covered mine once more, hands tangled in my hair. "Scorpius!" I burst out, pulling away just enough to be able to talk; I could still feel his lips against mine as I spoke. "I forgot to say, I love you, too."

"I know," Scorpius grinned into my lips. "… no one at the reception's going to miss us, right?"

"I think we've got time until we need to make our speeches," I said. Even if we hadn't, I would've just left everyone wondering where we were. I stuck my hands back under his shirt, his body almost quivering against mine and I was desperate to feel it once more. "Scorpius …"

"Mmm?"

"Get this tux _off_, before I bloody _strangle _you."

He was more than happy to oblige.

* * *

I like to think that we were subtle, walking back into the church hall, but it still felt like every single pair of eyes was staring at us and knew _exactly_ what we had run off to do. Maybe everyone was psychic or perhaps the stupid grins on our faces gave it away. As it was, when Scorpius was called away by Al, who wanted to know whether Scorpius was ready to give his speech yet, I found myself awkwardly running into Sophie.

"Soph!" I said, unsure of what to make of her. "Sorry, I nearly slammed into you!"

"It's ok," she said, tugging on the ends of her hair; in her blouse and skirt, she was probably one of the best dressed here, compared to the wedding party. "I … I noticed you and Scorpius disappeared."

"Oh, god," I swear, blood bypassed my neck completely and went straight to my head. "I think everyone noticed; I promise, it wasn't just to do what you're thinking–"

"It's fine! Seriously, I do _not _want to know," Sophie pointed out. "I only wanted to ask … are you two good now?"

"We are," I said, smiling half-heartedly. "Or, well, better than we were before."

"I'm glad."

I hesitated in saying anything else; her face said she was fine, but … "Sophie, are we _seriously_ ok?" I asked.

"I believe so, why?" Sophie said.

"It's just …" I sighed. "I've never met anyone quite like you. You've managed to just take this entire mess and _deal with it_. Sometimes, I wish you were a bitch, just so you could hate me and I wouldn't feel so conflicted!"

Sophie looked like she was trying to contain a laugh. "Oh, Rose," she said. "I know what you mean. If I'd been anyone else … I'm not going to lie to you; I _am_ a bit hurt. And for a while, I think it'll be best you and Scorpius and I stay away from each other … but in the end, you're my _friend_, and I want to keep you."

"I swear, there's someone out there for you," I told her. "He might take a few wrong turns before he gets to you, but I promise, he's there."

"Thank you," Sophie smiled. "And tell you what–" She held out a hand. "–here's to being friends? You know, I'm the future."

"In the future," I agreed, taking her hand. "You'll tell me when that is, right?"

"Of course," And hell, I felt like it, so I tugged on her hand and pulled her in for a hug. She hugged me back tightly and I let myself indulge for a bit, wrapping my arms around her. However, after a few moments, I noticed a bickering couple from over Sophie's shoulder; my parents, of course. They were standing not too far away, trying to shout over the blasting music. I pulled away with an exasperated sigh. "Oh, brilliant! I'm sorry, Sophie, but my parents are arguing again," I pointed them out for her. "I'd better go defuse them before there's a duel."

"I must say," Sophie told me. "Bea has married into a rather interesting family."

"You're not wrong there!"

As I approached my parents, I caught snatches of their words; they seemed to be arguing about numbers or something. It was only once I'd gotten closer when I realised that they were actually bickering about money.

"… a bloody steal!" Dad complained.

"Ron, there's been so much renovation done to the roof that no one would _ever_ buy it at that price!" Mum said, exasperatedly. "We have to think realistically!"

"Are you two _still _trying to sell our house?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

Mum just placed an arm around my shoulders. "Your father seems to think that we can make a _profit_ from selling!" she told me. "But he's forgetting the time he decided to do product testing for George in the attic for a little extra cash. Now the attic window is out of alignment with the rest of the wall!"

"Hey, we had a baby on the way at the time!" Dad pointed out. "We needed the money! Wasn't so stupid then, was it?"

"Was this me or Hugo?" I asked.

"Hugo," Mum rolled her eyes. "You were two and you helped. That's the reason there's a huge burn mark on the floor up there that we covered with that ugly old rug your dad's uncle gave us. No one wants to buy a house that's been blown up and is on the brink of collapsing!"

I just shook my head at them; they were right, our house was a disaster waiting to happen. Secretly, I was kind of glad, because as much as I wanted Mum and Dad to be happy where they lived … I loved my old home! I didn't want to see it sold into the hands of strangers.

"Hang on," I said then, an idea suddenly coming into my brain. "I've thought of something …" I glanced around the hall for the happy couple of the day and I eventually spotted Al and Bea obligatory speaking to Bea's grandmother. I waved and called, "AL! BEA!" and they took to the summons gratefully, hurrying over.

"… thank god, she was talking about her stuffed animal collection!" Al burst out the second he was within earshot.

"At least it was my mum's mum we were talking to," Bea pointed out. "If it was my dad's mum, we would have been subjected to several lectures about ancient mummification! It's what happens when you're a retired Egyptologist. Sorry, did you need something?"

"Yes, an answer!" I said, excited about my idea now. "Al, Bea, you still want to buy a house somewhere, right? A nice place to live together now that you're married, where you can raise your kids and have a back garden and stuff?"

"Of course," Al said. "But we're sort of on a budget …"

"And that's where my parents come in!" I said. "Mum, Dad, why don't you sell your house to Al and Bea?"

"_What_?" Bea yelped. "You can't be _serious_ …?"

"Don't be daft, Rosie," Dad said, ruffling my hair in a 'silly Rose' sort of way. "They're newlyweds! They want a nice place in the city, not some run down shack out in the middle of nowhere!"

Al and Bea exchanged looks.

"… actually, that depends," Al put in. "How much are we talking here?"

Mum and Dad conferred for a moment. "_Well_ … has Rose ever told you about the leaky shed?" Dad asked, looking sheepish. "Basically, you two will be able to afford it, I can tell you that."

"Bea, what d'you reckon?" Al said excitedly, turning to his wife.

"What – oh my god, you're _serious_? You actually want to buy it?"

"It would be so cool!" I cried. "I love my old house, it's not _that_ bad! And I never wanted to see it be sold to some strangers! This way, my best friends would be living there! You're married now and you can afford it! Please, just _think_ about it?"

"I …" Bea eventually gave me a grin. "It would be cool. I remember loving your house."

"There, see!" I said, happily. "How epic would that be?!"

"Ok, Rosie, darling, don't scare them out of a sale," Mum told me, hastily. "Al, Bea, we can talk about this properly and sort out everything once you're back from your honeymoon. Don't go making any hasty decisions right this moment. For now, just enjoy your wedding day!"

"Thank you so much, Mrs Weasley," Bea said.

"Yeah, thanks Auntie Hermione!" Al threw his arms about my mum.

As Bea laughed, Dad turned to me and hugged me tightly. "Just think," he said, pulling back so he could look me straight in the eye. "First Al, you could be next!"

"Aw, Dad–"

"Oh, don't think I didn't notice you and the boy doing a magical disappearing act earlier," he said with a smug look. "You're back together, aren't you?"

I just grinned. "Yes."

"You make it bloody work this time, yeah?"

"Yeah, Dad," I said. "Trust me … this time, it'll be the start of something great."

* * *

Just as I had predicted, the reception didn't continue very long before everyone got hungry and people started to disperse, wishing Al and Bea a happy marriage, good luck and all that nice crap you're required to say at weddings. Scorpius managed to get a toast in before everyone left and, rather unfortunately, I was forced to stand up in front of everyone before I could find a space to hide.

I'd known from the start that I'd have to make a speech; that didn't mean I was looking forward to it. Sure enough, I'd left what I was going to say back home in amongst all the chaos of getting to the wedding in the first place.

"Erm, hello," I said awkwardly, standing at the back of the hall on the small stage set into the back wall. I held a glass of wine in my hand, had about fifty people staring at me, and no idea what to say. "Well, I'm Rose Weasley. I'm the Maid of Honour. As most of you will know, the groom is my cousin," I glanced into the crowd and caught Bea's eye, standing in front of Al with her husband's arms around her waist. "But the bride is also my best friend," I smiled.

I cast about for something to talk about; do I crack jokes and try and go for the funny toast or do I stick to being romantic? Eventually, I just decided to say whatever came into my head. I know that's rather dangerous, considering the rubbish my brain can come up with, but I've sort of learnt how to deal with it over the years.

"To be perfectly honest, I think I have been so lucky," I told the crowd. "Al, Bea and I have been best friends together since we were eleven. Bea and I once joked that something all the pivotal moments of their relationship have in common was that I happened to be there. But when I really thought about it, I realised it was actually true. I saw Al and Bea meet, outside our classroom on our second day of a new school. I watched them as they became friends and I made fun of them as they fell in love. I was there the day they got together, sitting in the common room and being far too awkward. I watched them decide their futures together as we prepared to leave school. I was there when they got engaged and I was even there when they got married," I took a deep breath, speaking directly to the two of them now. It was clear that Bea was trying hard not to cry. "I've never seen two people more right for each other than Al and Bea. They've been a perfect example of how to love and cherish someone and how to never, _ever_ let them go. I know that I'll be there when their first child is born, when they buy a house together and when they celebrate their fiftieth anniversary. I love you guys so, so much," I told them. "And I expect your first kid, no matter what gender, to have the name Rose. Thanks for listening! To Al and Bea!"

Conclusion to the most epic wedding in the universe:

-The second my toast was over, Al and Bea hurled themselves forward and practically bowled me over with their hug. I never wanted to let them go.

-Sophie and I … we'll be ok.

-When Lily told her mother that she and Dave were moving to London – like, permanently – I swear Auntie Ginny nearly kissed Dave on the spot.

-I swear that this time, Scorpius is _not _getting away from me.

Rose: 26, Scorpius: 22.

(Well, would you look at that? Still winning!).

* * *

A/N: In fitting with the chapter, you guys are _epic_. Seriously, your reviews were simply stunning! I'm so glad you all enjoyed the last chapter and I hope this one lived up to the expectations of the wedding! Al and Bea weren't going to be married any other way.

I'm afraid that this is the last full chapter. Next is the epilogue and the last you'll see of CGIR. It's been an incredible journey and I can promise that you will see what will become of our intrepid heroes.

Just ... _thank you_.

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


	35. The Epilogue One

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Rose, Scorpius, rings, graveyards, shrieking or epilogues. But I do own this story and I've loved every second of it. :)

* * *

Conclusion to Getting it Right.

Blurb …

Six years later, I'm still best friends with Bea, still cousins with Al and still in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, and still trying to get it right. My conclusion … oh, I don't bloody know. :Scorpius/Rose sequel to GIR postDH NextGen:

* * *

Chapter 34: The Epilogue One.

(_Five months later_)

(_December, 2029_)

"_Has he done it?! Has he done it_?!"

Bea came screaming into my flat about ten minutes before I was supposed to leave it for work. Screaming bloody murder, she made me practically leap out of my skin as she slammed the front door behind her and tore into the kitchen where I was just draining the last dregs of my tea.

"Bloody hell, Bea!" I cried, almost dropping my mug. "Learn to knock!"

"Hey, I used to live here, I don't have to knock – but that's not the point! HAS HE DONE IT?!" she shrieked, skidding to a halt right next to me and grabbing my left hand. I just sighed exasperatedly as she held it up to her face for several moments, her excited look soon turning to one of disgust.

"Satisfied now?" I asked as she let my still ring-less hand drop to my side.

"No!" Bea complained, leaning against the kitchen bench next to me. "I won't be satisfied until the stupid idiot has actually asked you to marry him and you're both blissfully happy!"

I just laughed at her. For about two months now, Bea and I, along with pretty much every other female we knew, were simply waiting for Scorpius to get off his arse and propose.

It had all started when I found the ring back in October, hidden in the cutlery drawer at Al and Bea's house. He had apparently figured out that no matter where he hid it in our flat, I was bound to find it, so in a bid to be smart, he had apparently asked his best mate to keep it for him until he could find a way to ask me. What the idiot _hadn't_ counted on was the fact that Al and Bea's house had been the home I had grown up in and I knew the perfect places to hide things there!

… not that I was, y'know, _trying_ to find it or anything! I _swear_, the drawer broke like that and the box totally just opened on its own.

Anyway, once we had discovered it in the cutlery drawer, interrogating Al for the details had been pitifully easy since he and Bea had gotten married; he was an absolute slave to his new wife, which we readily used to our advantage. So we found out: after half a year of talking about 'soon', Scorpius finally snapped, bought a ring, and was going to propose. I had been suspicious for several weeks at that point, which had sparked the manhunt for the ring in the first place … uh, I mean, it was lucky we found the ring at that point. He, unfortunately, had no idea how he was going to do it. But it _was_ going to be before the end of the year, because apparently, he had made a bet with Lily that he did _not_ want to lose.

It was the day before New Year's Eve and he _still _hadn't done it.

"Look, Bea, I've got to go to work now!" I told my best friend, patting her on the shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "I _swear_, we'll discuss everything in full detail at dinner tonight, ok?"

"Ok, ok …" Bea grumbled. "Have fun at work!"

"Oh, I'll try," I told her, glancing at the clock. "Hang on, shouldn't _you_ be at work as well?"

Bea glanced quickly at her watch, then at the clock.

"Oh, _shit_!" she cried. "Damn it! I _hate_ having a new job, I start at different times now! I thought I had a whole extra hour!"

"Think of it this way," I said as Bea made for the fireplace to floo back home. "If it was Monica Dodge you still worked for, she would have chopped your head off by now!"

"Yeah, it's _so_ much better," Bea said, rolling her eyes. "Now my mother-in-law works just down the corridor from me! Why did the sports section of the _Daily Prophet_ have to be so close to the news section?"

"Ginny loves you," I pointed out. "I reckon it would help to have a Chief Editor on your side, wouldn't it?"

Bea grinned. "Ok, yeah it does. Love you, Rosie, see you tonight!"

I laughed as Bea flooed home and I started the familiar walk to work. Bea had been so ecstatic when, to her surprise, her application for a job at the _Daily Prophet_ had been accepted. She'd only just come back from her honeymoon when she'd heard and soon, the first couple of weeks of hers and Al's marriage had been full of moving into a proper house and starting a new job. But Al and Bea had never been happier and I sort of thought that rubbed it in Monica Dodge's face.

While The Happy Couple had Scorpius and I to use for manual labour to help move all of their crap to my old family home, they had still been on their honeymoon when Scorpius moved in with me. As a result, we had been forced to rope in James and Libby from downstairs and (rather reluctantly on my end) Harley from across the hall. Al and Scorpius's old flat still stood empty now and it saddened me every now and then when I felt my legs wanting to take the usual extra few paces two doors down. But who knows, maybe we'll get some nice, normal neighbours who don't care that their building is full of lunatics?

Well, it was a nice thought at least.

* * *

The second I walked into the staff room at work, I was basically assaulted by several girls yelling,

"DID HE ASK YOU, DID HE ASK YOU?!"

"_No_!" I shouted loudly and they all moaned. "He hasn't asked me yet, stop yelling!"

"Aw, Rosie, c'mon!" Margo said, still smiling even though I had just yelled at her. "We're only excited!"

"I know, I know," I said, rolling my eyes. "Trust me, I'm excited too, although a little bit pissed off. You'd think he'd have done it by now!"

"He's got one more day," Ally pointed out and I grinned, dropping down next to her on the staff room sofa, still with fifteen minutes to go until our shift started. "He has to do it tonight, right?"

"Oh, I dunno, Scorpius has been known to work on homework right up until the deadline …"

Ally just smiled at me as the other girls giggled, against their will, I'm sure. I swear, the day I had gotten the letter, saying that I was officially a fully qualified Healer, I nearly blasted out the glass in our windows with my screams. The entire two weeks after Al and Bea's wedding I had waited in _agony_, studying into the wee hours of the morning for exams, hoping for the best possible mark to boost my chances. When I actually got the letter, Scorpius, Al and Bea had been there, watching tentatively as I opened the letter and promptly proceeded to scream my lungs out. Naturally, they had started yelling too and soon, we were jumping up and down in a four-armed hug, much like we had done five years previously when I'd received the letter saying I was accepted into the trainee programme.

Sometimes life came in a full circle. I loved every second of it.

Naturally, the first thing I'd done after finding out had been crashing uninvited into Gerald flat (with Ally naturally being there as well) and demanding to know whether they had got in or not. Silently, they'd both just held up their letters and we hadn't let our celebratory shrieks loose until we'd asked, ever so politely, what results the other had gotten.

Graduation had been one of the best days of my life, standing on a stage at the Ministry of Magic with fourteen others in my year group, about to become full Healers. My mum and dad had been in the crowd, along with basically every other member of my family. Naturally, the celebrations had been extensive that night.

Unfortunately, there had been the people who didn't get in and it had hurt to see their faces as we all worked our last shifts together before the training year crossed over. We were graduating, but they were going away with nothing. However, thankfully, most of them had ended up being vultures, who had been counting on their connections to get them through. Apparently, Healer Williams had only just taken over the Head of Healer Training job the year we were all accepted and didn't _do_ vulture shit. He had been merciless!

But there had been those like Ben, who wasn't a surprise since he never studied, and Sarah, whose family commitments forced her to pull out and her place was offered to someone else instead. It hurt to have to say goodbye to them, but all wasn't lost: Ben was moving to France and Sarah told us that her training would be reconsidered the day she would be able to come back. They had supported us at graduation and we had all appreciated it.

Honestly, the hardest person to face had been Harley. To this day, I don't really know what I was hoping for; I knew that she was good at her job, but the ways she had taken to get there I couldn't accept. So when I'd heard from Scorpius that she didn't get accepted, I had felt a strange desire to cry and laugh at the same time. I mean, she was a vulture, vultures didn't get in, it made sense. But that night, I had ended up knocking on her door anyway … and somehow, we'd spent several hours bitching and arguing together. She'd explained that she was looking into several mediwizard positions now. She had also admitted to me through the tears that she thought Healer Williams had made the right decision and that she didn't blame me if I'd felt relieved.

And while yeah, I had agreed with Healer Williams, I still cried for her anyway.

We still don't talk about that night.

Instead, I try to concentrate on the good memories of graduation. That day, all fifteen of us stood in a line on the stage, everyone holding hands and trying not to cry. I had been squashed between Gerald and Margo, and the first friend I'd ever made on my course squeezed my fingers tightly when they had read our names and handed us our certificates.

While officially, we were offered jobs wherever they placed us in the hospital, on graduating, we had been allowed to identify a preferred section and more often than not, we had ended up there. I had requested to work once more with Healer Pyne-Smith and the children in magical diseases and, sure enough, I swear Healer Pyne-Smith nearly hugged me on the spot when I had walked through the doors for my first shift as a fully qualified Healer.

It was honestly the best job in the world and I couldn't imagine working anywhere else.

"Healer Weasley!" six year old Elise called out to me the second I walked into the ward. "Did Scorpius ask you yet?!"

Ok, yes, so even the kids I worked with knew about my boyfriend's so far useless attempts to ask me to marry him. We were often encouraged to talk to the children about our lives, as it frequently helped them cope through their illnesses and the procedures to healing them. Only I don't think Healer Pyne-Smith had exactly counted on the fact that as a result, the entire ward of sick children now knew far too much about my personal life than I would like.

"Aw, sorry Elise, he hasn't yet," I told her, moving over to take her temperature.

"But you said that _last _week!" Johnny said, the boy in the bed next to her.

"I know!" I said as several of the kids laughed. "I don't know what I'm going to do! I'm starting to think he'll never ask. Does your tummy still hurt, Johnny?"

"Kind of," Johnny admitted, which wasn't surprising since the bug he had caused the food in his stomach to animate and fly around. "Can you make it better?"

"If you keep taking your medicine, you will feel much better," I pointed out, since Johnny had proven himself to be very apt at sneaking out of bed, rather than sitting down nicely and drinking the potion prescribed to him.

"But it tastes funny."

"I know, but it will make you feel a lot better," I told him. "Remember what happens if you don't drink it yourself …?"

Johnny's eyes suddenly widened and he snatched the potion vial off his bedside table. His mother laughed as he downed the whole thing in one go. "I think I missed what happened last time," she told me. "I've never seen him drink that so fast!"

"Last time, Healer Pyne-Smith came in and threatened to sit on him," I smiled. "He drank it pretty quickly then, too."

"Healer Weasley! Healer Weasley!" four-year-old Shelley was on the other side of the ward, jumping on her knees at the end of her bed. "If Scorpius won't ask you to marry him, why don't you ask him?!" She grinned as if this were the perfect solution.

"Well, normally, it is the boy's job to ask the girl," I explained to her. "So I keep waiting for him to do it and he won't! You look like you're feeling much better."

"I'm not coughing anymore!" Shelley said, excitedly. "Mummy says that I'll get to go home soon."

"Y'know what? I think she might be right," I said, glancing at her chart hanging off the end of her bed. "But I'm afraid you have to rest before you leave. Otherwise you might get sick again and you'll just have to stay here."

"I don't mind, I _want_ to stay here," Shelley said with a toothy grin. "I like you. I think you should ask Scorpius to marry you."

"Ok, why is that?"

"Um …" Shelley thought for a moment. "Because … you want to get married … and when you want to get married, you ask 'can you marry me, please?' And Scorpius hasn't asked you, so I think you should ask him if you can marry him, please!"

I did my best not to laugh too loudly. If only things were as simple as a four-year-old's logic. "You're a very good advice-giver, Shelley. Now I need you to lie down for a bit, ok? Then, when your mummy comes back, we can talk about letting you go home."

As young as little Shelley was, I found I wasn't just humouring her when I said her advice was valid. Was the solution to this problem really just as simple as asking him myself? The woman inside me shunned that immediately, actually kind of wanting the experience of being proposed to; but then the demanding Rose inside me said _screw that, I want to get married_! The thought stayed in my head my entire shift and it wasn't until I was leaving at the end of the day, when I voiced it out loud.

"Hey, Gerald!" I called, just as I was walking out of the staff room, catching my friend as he was arriving for his shift.

"Rosie, my girl!" he said, wrapping me in a hug as if he hadn't seen me for months on end. Catie and the receptionist ladies laughed at our encounter behind their desk. "And I thought we never saw each other as trainees! Next time we're all free, you're coming to mine for dinner, ok?"

"Wouldn't miss it," I said with a grin. "Here all night?"

"Only until midnight," Gerald said. "My shortest shift since … I started! Being a full-Healer is _so_ worth it. Oh!" He suddenly seemed to realise something as he slapped his forehead with his hand. "I'm supposed to ask! Has Scorpius–?"

"_No_," several voice's said flatly. I hadn't been the only one to respond; Catie, Hannah, Evie and I all gave the answer.

"Ah," Gerald shrugged. "Oh, well, can't blame him. Must be nerve-wracking."

"But you _so _aren't siding with him … _right_?" I reiterated.

"Oh, no!" Gerald quickly said, raising his hands hastily. "Totally not! Complete idiot, why wouldn't he ask you yet?"

"That's better," I said with a smile. "Promise me that when you decide to propose to Ally, you'll do it straight away, yeah?"

Gerald went bright red, as he always did whenever someone joked about his and Ally's relationship.

I'll be honest; there had actually been a moment near the end of our training where I had feared that their relationship would fall apart. Ally had seriously considered taking the Spain job and, despite my best speeches to encourage bravery, it had only been my intervention of forcing Ally over to Gerald's flat to _make_ them talk it out that had sorted things.

I must have looked rather odd, sitting outside Gerald's front door, my legs stretched out in front of me and banging on the door every now and then when I could hear my friend's words talking about something random. I _knew _Gerald and Ally; yelling and confrontation wasn't really their thing, so they had mostly tried to veer wildly off-topic. Ally finally admitting that she was scared of a real relationship, having never been in one before, had been the kicker and they had soon managed to hash it out.

Naturally, I had left hastily once the words stopped.

"Rosie, you _know_ we're probably not equipped to handle jokes like that yet," Gerald snorted. "Hell, we've only just managed to admit that we want something serious! If marriage comes at all, it'll be a _long_ way off."

I just grinned, before considering my next words. "Gerald," I said, after a moment. "Can I ask you something?"

"I'm going to regret it, but sure."

I rolled my eyes, but continued on, "It's just, one of the kids said something today during my shift. She said that if Scorpius was taking too long to ask me, then I should just ask him instead. Would that … I dunno, coming from a bloke's perspective, would that be _weird_?"

Gerald considered me. "I s'pose it'd depend on the bloke."

"The bloke is Scorpius, Gerald."

"Well," Gerald shrugged. "I know that on the one hand, I would probably feel a little bit like my manliness was being taken away from me; proposing is one of the few important things it's traditionally a man's job to do and it's something you want to get right! To have the woman swoop in and do it for you, no matter how much you may love her … he may feel a little put out."

"Ah," I said, frowning.

"On the other hand, though," Gerald added. "If it worked for the relationship, or it was getting to the point where you needed a push, I could sort of see the merit in it. You're not actually _considering_ it, are you, Rosie?"

"I'm just sick of waiting!" I said, exasperatedly. "My stupid cousin mulled it over for an entire _year_ before he asked Bea! I've only been waiting two months and I'm already going nuts!"

"Then get his arse into gear, I say," Gerald grinned. "You don't necessarily have to be the one to ask, but y'know, a subtle kick in the right direction can never go amiss."

"Thanks, mate," I said. "I don't think I've ever mentioned how much I love the fact that you forced me to sit next to you on our first day of training. God knows what might have happened if you hadn't."

"I know one thing," Gerald said, grinning. "I wouldn't have Ally in my life like I do now. And despite the insane drama, I consider you one of the best friends I've got. So while we're being all gooey and shit, I love you, and blah, blah, blah."

"Love you, too," I said in answer, punching him on the shoulder.

"Gerald!"

We both turned to see Ally herself approaching, making her way down to the (_proper, full-Healer!_) staff room for her break. While Ally was still that incredibly reserved person I first met five years ago, I knew that she had come a long way. Just by looking at them, most people wouldn't even realise that Gerald and Ally were in a relationship, since as a greeting, she just moved to his side and looked up at him with a smile. But _I_ could tell and the fact that they were even here at all was enough for me.

"Don't bother asking Rosie about Scorpius," Ally told Gerald. "She's–"

"–already told me, yeah," Gerald answered for her. "And going mental, she's actually considering asking him herself, now!"

Ally's eyes widened as she turned to look at me. "You would _do _that?" she asked in amazement. So shy, I think the very idea of putting herself out there like that made her want to throw up.

"It was a child's idea! She told me during my shift," I said, rolling my eyes. "As appealing as the idea might be, though, I still stand by the traditional notion that the bloke asks the girl. I want my beautiful, romantic proposal, damn it!"

"… I'm sorry, you? Romantic?" Gerald said with a snort. "If that's the case, then I recommend not speaking at all!"

"Or listening," Ally added. "Hearing his words only annoys you."

"Actually, try not being in the same room as him," Gerald shrugged. "Or better yet, hire an actress that looks like you to do it for you! That way, you might actually get something beautiful and romantic."

"Cheers guys," I said, sarcastically. "What would I do without you?"

* * *

I was thankful that no one was in when I got home from work. I don't think I could have stood yet another person screaming at me, "Has he done it?!" However, my happiness was short-lived. I'd only had time to change out of my work uniform and pour myself a cup of tea, when Al and Scorpius turned up.

"Hey, Rosie!" Al said happily, moving to hug me tightly. "Ready for dinner at James and Libby's?"

"Of course," I grinned into his shoulder. "Look at me, I'm practically wasting away!"

"Right," Then, Al leaned in and hissed in my ear, "_Has he asked you yet? Bastard doesn't tell me anything!_"

I just gave an exasperated sigh and shoved him on the shoulder. "Shut up," I told him.

"I'll take that as a no, then."

"No to what?" Scorpius asked, shutting the front door behind him. Al and I just exchanged looks. It was starting to look like my idiot boyfriend would _never_ get the hint. Mind you, the record to beat is, in fact, twelve months held by the one and only Al Potter, so I suppose I don't _really_ need to start worrying until then. I loved the bloke dearly, but he was _seriously_ starting to piss me off.

"Nothing, mate," Al shrugged it off. "Bea gets off work in ten, so I thought we could wait for her here and then all go downstairs together?"

"Oh, that is the saddest thing _ever_," I pointed out as Al sprawled himself on our sofa to wait and Scorpius came over to kiss me quickly. I tried to ignore the fact that I could feel the small box containing the ring in his pocket. "You were _never_ this bad before you got married!"

"Hey, ten minutes is a decent time–"

"Ten minutes is _nothing_," Scorpius said, flatly. "I'm ashamed to even know you!"

"Aw, just wait until you guys are married, you'll be all over each other and then you'll understand how we feel!" Al said, clearly without thinking. At that comment, Scorpius and I could hardly step away from each other without it looking odd, but we awkwardly glanced away from each other, unable to look each other in the eye.

"… so did you see your sister for lunch like you said?" Scorpius asked Al in a bid to change the subject.

"Merlin, did I ever," Al rolled his eyes as Scorpius and I moved to join him on the sofa, sitting on either side of my cousin. "She brought along that boyfriend of hers, Dave or something. The bloke she met in New Zealand?"

"She's _still_ with him?"

"_That's_ the point you're focusing on?" I pointed out. "I'm still marvelling over the fact that she's accepted he's her boyfriend now!" Scorpius was right to be surprised at Lily's attempts at a domestic life; I don't think my little cousin had shown any long-term interest in a bloke since … forever!

"Yeah, well, get this," Al said, amused now. "She's _happy_!"

"She tell you that?" Scorpius snorted.

"She didn't have to," Al told him. "I could just tell. LL's emotions just read across her face and I could tell that she was the happiest she's been in a _long_ time! She loved travelling, but she loves being back here in England as well and it's all thanks to that bloke!"

"Bea got her a job at the _Daily Prophet_, didn't she?" Scorpius asked. "That was the last I heard from her, back in September when she leapt out of our fireplace without checking first once again. You'd think she would have learnt the first time, but _no_ …"

I found that I could finally laugh at the memory of Lily bursting in on a rather intimate moment between Scorpius and I on the sofa a few years ago. It used to only cause embarrassing pain, so it was a positive change.

"She writes travel features, I think," I said, smiling. "She's the best person for it! I swear she's been _everywhere_."

"I'm just saying, I think we need to get some sort of lock on our fireplace if she's going to keep crashing through it like that."

"She's a Potter," Al shrugged. "We're not exactly known for sticking to regular norms."

"Oh, you, Lily and James are _definitely_ related," Scorpius agreed. "I don't think James has ever done anything normal in his life! Except maybe falling for Libby, but even then that was a bit extreme."

"I bet they're the next to get married," I said with a glance at Scorpius. _Hint, hint here! _"He'll totally ask her within this coming year."

"Are you kidding?" Al snorted. "Those two are about as unorthodox you can get! They'll have ten kids running around by the time they even consider it."

"Scorpius?" I prompted the bloke sitting on Al's other side.

"Oh, um …" Scorpius muttered and I could tell that Al was silently trying to prod him in the right direction just by using his face. There was a burning in Scorpius's eyes, like his brain was literally on fire and right when I thought he was finally, _finally_, going to bring the topic up, he muttered, "Yes, yeah, it'll probably be him and Libby …"

Al smacked his forehead with his hand and I just gave a frustrated groan. This was _never_ going to happen, unless I had something to say about it.

"That's it!" I yelled, causing Scorpius to look up with an alarmed expression. "Hints just don't WORK with you, do they?!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Scorpius asked, hastily.

"Oh, for god's sake!" I yelled. "_Just ask me to marry you already_!"

Oh, the awkward silence. It was so _awkward_. Nobody said a word as Scorpius stared in horror, silence ringing throughout our flat. Eventually, Al seemingly couldn't take the tension, as he snapped upright to his feet and said quickly, "Actually, Bea will probably meet us there! See you later! Don't kill each other, please!"

And he rushed out of the flat so fast that he practically tripped over the hems of his jeans.

Scorpius and I stayed silent for a moment, even after Al slammed the door shut behind him. Eventually, I couldn't take sitting anymore and I stood up so I could pace around the lounge. Scorpius's eyes followed me as I practically wore a hole in the carpet.

"Well?" I snapped eventually, spinning around to face him. "C'mon! Are you going to do it or what?"

"I – Rose, you can't just bring it up like that!" Scorpius retorted, standing up in a huff, folding his arms and refusing to look at me.

"The hell I can't!" I yelled back. "It's been months! Just _ask_ me!"

"How the flipping HELL did you even find out?!"

"Let's just say that you need to find a better hiding place next time!" I said. "But that's not the point! The point is that you're stalling and screwing around, justifying it by trying to find 'the perfect way' to ask me! You know that doesn't even MATTER right?! We could be at the bloody rubbish dump with you kneeling in the dirt and I would still say yes!"

"Oh, c'mon, that's a load of bollocks," Scorpius said, angrily. "Girls always dream of the perfect proposal, don't they?"

"_Seriously_?" I almost laughed in his face. "It's like you don't know me at all! When the hell have we EVER been perfect?!"

"Y'know what? I'm not going to listen to this!" Scorpius just stormed past me, heading for the front door. "I'll ask you when I'm good and ready, all right?"

"Hey! No–!" I practically leapt after him, grabbing him by the wrist and hauling him back. "If you weren't _ready_ to ask me, then you wouldn't have _bought_ the freaking ring! You've even got the ring on you right now, I know you do, it's in your pocket!"

Scorpius just made an exasperated sound, trying to tug my hands away, but I only held onto him tighter, keeping him here. Eventually, he gave in and he just looked straight at me with an almost painful expression. "Rosie," he said. "Look, our relationship has been so screwed up recently and I wanted this to be _special_. I keep hoping that some spontaneous moment will arise, but nothing's happened so far. You know I don't care either, right? We could be anywhere and I wouldn't _care_. But …"

"You thought I would?" I asked. Scorpius nodded and I couldn't help giving a sort of smile. "Scorpius … look, you're right, things have been screwed up, but _everything_ about us is screwed up, so why should this be any different?"

"Merlin, you're annoying."

"But isn't that why you love me?" I asked.

Scorpius grinned at that and he let go of my hands to tug around my waist and kiss me enthusiastically. You know, I always thought that there would come a day when I would just _stop_ feeling so alive around him. That I would see him walk through a door, or he would press his lips to mine, and I would think _that's Scorpius, he's mine_, but it wouldn't hit me like a bloody _freight train_.

I'm _still_ waiting for that to happen and now, I'm starting to think it never will. I didn't even care. I thrust my fingers into his hair, hauling him closer, and I remembered all the moments we'd had like this in this very flat. In the hallway to the front door, we had argued about Harley moving in across the hall from him; in the kitchen we had bickered while keeping up the charade of cooking, even though we were really only flirting in the end; on the sofa were stolen moments and last desperate attempts to be together before we forced ourselves away; not far away in my bedroom, we'd spent hours just curled up in bed, half-asleep and just enjoying being with each other. We'd argued here, lived here, loved here, made our _lives_ here …

Suddenly, I realised what hadn't actually happened yet and I pulled away rather abruptly, despite the fact that we were wrapped around each other rather closely. Scorpius gave a protesting sound as I stepped away from him, glaring and folding my arms.

"What?" he whined.

"You still have to ask me," I pretty much demanded.

Scorpius just rolled his eyes. "Aw, c'mon, Rosie–"

"No, no, don't you '_c'mon, Rosie_' me!" I cried, prodding him in the chest. "I might not care how it happens, but I do care that it actually _does_ happen!"

For a moment, he just glared at me. Right when I thought he was going to tell me to piss off, he shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out the ring.

Oh, god. I'd been imagining this for Merlin knows how long, and for some reason, I thought I would be cool once it finally did happen.

I wasn't. I was not cool. In fact, I'm fairly certain I stopped breathing.

"Fine," Scorpius wasn't looking quite so cocky as he took a slight step back and kneeled down onto the worn carpet in front of me. "You get it your way."

_Oh god, oh god, oh god_ –

He opened the box and I couldn't help but grin. Even though I had seen it before, seeing the ring held in his hand with him knelt down on the floor like that with the pitifully-in-love expression on his face, it was like it was the first time anyway.

The idiot still looked nervous as I tried not to cry. "Rose Weasley, I still don't know how I managed to fall quite so desperately in love with you when, most of the time, I just want to kill you. All I know is that we are quite possibly the only two people in the world who could be ever be with each other. I …" He shook his head. "I just love you, so bloody much. Will you marry me?"

I will _not_ cry.

I will not –

Ah, buggering hell, I'm crying.

"Oh, dear lord, I screwed it up, didn't I?!" Scorpius said frantically, noticing my tears and quickly lurching to his feet, the ring in his hand forgotten. "Shit, I – I don't know what else – god, I just love you, Rose, seriously–"

"Yes!" I burst out over his rambling, hastily wiping at my face. "For the love of god, yes, now shut the hell up!"

I reached out and kissed him then, sweeping my fingers over the sides of his face, my arms almost trapped against his body since he had flung himself around me tightly. I kissed him because I wanted to feel that grin under my lips. I kissed him because once he heard the word _yes_ I had thought he might burst from happiness and I didn't want him to make a mess and really, I just kissed him because I was engaged now and it felt bloody _amazing_.

* * *

We didn't wait for Bea to come home from work. I knew that Al had to be almost fit to bursting from dramatic tension, so I'd been quick to point out that we should probably go put his, and the rest of our mates', minds at rest. Scorpius had protested and honestly, I might have just given in and pulled him to the floor to have wild, hot, _we-just-got-engaged_ sex right in our living room.

But I'd convinced him to actually put the ring – _my_ ring – on my finger and he hadn't been able to contain his joy. In fact, after kissing me once more at the sight, the first thing he'd done was wrenched open the front door and darted out to pound on the door of the flat across the hall. Old Mrs O'Riley had gotten one hell of a fright to answer her door to Scorpius yelling triumphantly,

"_Rose and I are getting married_!"

"Bloody finally," the old lady had rolled her eyes at us, Scorpius with his arms flung in the air and me watching in amusement from my own doorframe. "It's only taken you, what? Five years since you moved in? Ooh!" she seemed to think of something. "Could you be a dear and not tell Margaret down the hall until after new year's? I'd hate to lose ten quid off her."

With that insight to how our neighbour's saw us, we had quickly assured Mrs O'Riley before Scorpius took my hand, lacing our fingers together, and we almost ran down the stairwell for James and Libby's place.

It was clear that Al had told everyone what had happened. All of our friends shut up the second we walked through the door, identical looks of _please, Merlin, please _on their faces; Al, who had clearly been in the middle of telling the story to James and Libby; Jo and her little puppy, Pants, the latter squirming in her arms; Toby and his current girlfriend, actually pulling away from snogging for once to stare; Trevor, who had been talking to Sophie; and Harley, who had been helping Libby in the kitchen and had just stuck her head around the door.

Everyone stared at the two of us in the doorway until I couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Guess what?!" I called. I raised mine and Scorpius's joined hands and it would have been impossible not to notice the ring glittering in the light. "He asked me!"

Pretty much every girl in the room shrieked and flew forward to hug me and fawn over the ring. Scorpius had the blokes come smack him on the back, telling him, "Good job, mate!" It felt _so_ great to be able to give our friends such good news; the past five months had been tough on everyone, as they had to work hard up until Christmas. Now, the New Year was nearly upon us and the gleeful mood just seemed to seep through the room, infecting everyone. Even Harley hugged me in a rare occurrence, muttering, "Congrats. You had _better_ make him happy," into my ear.

"Rosie, I'm so happy for you!" Sophie cried happily, throwing her arms around my neck once Harley had backed away. "It was getting to the point where _I_ was going to force him to ask you!"

"Thank you," I said into her shoulder. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that!"

"Hey," Sophie pulled back, smiling at me with her beautiful blue eyes sparkling. "You're my friend and I love you. The story of me calling you a psycho when we first met will just be a funny tale to tell on my ninetieth birthday or something."

"You all right for coffee on Saturday?"

"Wouldn't miss it!" Sophie grinned.

Sophie was then forced to moved out of the way, since Jo had come running forward, Pants almost jumping out of her arms to lick me on the face and Libby was practically crying as she hugged me around the middle. It was ages before Al could even get close, but when he did, he picked me up and swung me round.

"Can't believe you managed to make him do it!" he told me, stepping away, but still keeping hold of one of my hands. "Oh, wait, shit … this means I lose to Lily! He did it before New Year's!"

"Oh, damn it, I've lost, too!" I suddenly realised. "I owe my mum ten Galleons now!"

"You bet with your _mother_?" Al raised an eyebrow at me.

"Of course! She was going on and on about how he was bound to do it before the week was out, so I jumped at it! I had no idea that he would actually do it three days later! Speaking of my mother," I added. "Has she gotten around to fixing the mould problem in the downstairs bathroom?"

Al laughed. "She came round yesterday. Fixed it in a jiffy. She says she actually likes what we've done with the place! Did I tell you that we've turned your old bedroom into a library?"

"What, seriously?" I asked, tugging on his hand. "You know that's been a dream of mine since before I could even read!"

"All for you, Rosie," Al grinned.

"You are the best cousin ever."

"I know!"

I might have hugged him again, but that was when the front door opened once more and we all turned to see that Bea had finally gotten home from work. She stood in the doorway, her bag over her shoulder, and looking gob-smacked.

"Good lord," she said, staring at the huge excited mass of people all stood in a tangled group in the middle of the lounge. "What the hell is going on?"

"Bea!" Scorpius beat me to it as he surged forward. "I did it! I asked her! Rosie and I are engaged!"

I didn't think Bea believed him at first. Then, she dropped her bag and let out an almighty shriek that hurt my ears. "AHHH!" she cried, throwing herself forward into Scorpius's arms. "YOU'RE SERIOUS?!"

"Completely!"

"This is amazing!" Bea cried as everyone laughed and I caught her eye from over Scorpius's shoulder. "You! Get over here!" she called to me and she half pulled away from Scorpius with her arm outstretched so I could join her and Scorpius in their hug. With her arms around us both, I could practically feel her excitement. "Oh, I'm so proud of both of you! Now don't screw this up, ok?"

"I swear, we'll try not to," I was sure to tell her.

That was about when everyone else was sick of Bea hogging us and I swear, I hugged every single person in that room at least ten times, including Pants. Finally, Libby was forced to retreat to the kitchen and Harley returned to help her serve us dinner. As they piled food onto plates and everyone chatted and milled around, pouring drinks, I spoke to Trevor.

"Where were you last weekend?" I asked him. "We were all supposed to go out, but you never showed! I know we're sort of getting old for the nightlife, but I thought we'd still have a good few years left before we retired to staying in on the weekend."

"Oh," Trevor crinkled his eyebrows. "Um … it's not really a big deal …"

"Then tell me," I said at once. "C'mon, you can't hold back, not now–"

"Look, don't get upset," Trevor cut over me. "But I was sort of … with someone."

I stared at him for several moments as our friends clattered around with their plates, drawing back chairs and sitting down. _With someone_?

"What …" I started. "What about–?"

"Lucy?" Trevor finished for me and I nodded. He gave a sigh at that, turning to look across the room. I followed his gaze to where Lucy Harley was sat next to her best friend, chatting excitedly to Scorpius with the passion that I knew was one of her few redeeming qualities. "Rosie, you know what we were like. We were …"

"Sebastian and Olivia," I pointed out.

"A _train wreck_," Trevor added and I grumbled slightly. "Rosie, you can't deny that it just wasn't working. I mean, how many times did we break up and get back together?"

"I lost count, to be honest."

"I did, too," Trevor told me. I was thankful to see a spark of the usual, happy Trevor I knew when he threw a comforting arm around me. "I know it'll be hard for you to accept, even though you don't like her. You've seen us right from the start and hell, you just got bloody engaged! You must have _true love_ shit practically coursing through you!" I laughed at that and he grinned. "She … I loved Lucy, I honestly did. It was the first time I've ever been in love. But were not all as lucky as you and Bea. We don't all marry the first person we fall in love with. Hell, Libby was a slut before she got off with James!" he added and even I had to admit that was true.

After a moment, I wound my arm around his waist as I said, "I did hate seeing you so upset when you would break up."

"It happened too many times," Trevor told me. "She broke my heart again and again and eventually, she broke the love. Broke me?" he added, looking confused. "I don't think I'm very good with poetic words …"

"It's fine," I laughed. After a moment of watching our friends eat together, I said thoughtfully, "She's a bitch … but there are _some_ good qualities about her, right? I mean, you must've fallen for her for a reason … Scorpius must be friends with her for a reason …"

"She's fierce," Trevor nodded. "She does _not_ take things lightly. She's bloody protective, she knows what she wants and she gets it. There'll be someone out there who can handle her," he added. "It just won't be me."

"This has _not_ been a good year for her …" I muttered to myself. I mean, first not making full-Healer and then her relationship with Trevor falling apart; both essentially her own fault! I almost felt sorry for the girl.

It was always sad to see a relationship end, but I understood why Trevor needed to do it. It was probably hitting me harder than it normally would, but Trevor was right in guessing it was probably because of all the post-engagement bliss running through my head. Eventually, I found it within me to say, "I'm sorry. And remember, I'll always think you are _fantastic_ … so are you gonna tell me about this girl?" I added with a teasing smile.

Right then, I saw the way Trevor's face lit up and I knew that he'd made the right decision in splitting with Harley; whenever he spoke about Harley, he would be happy, but there would always be a hint of tension in his eyes. In that moment, when I asked him about this new mystery girl, pure joy looked back at me.

"She's so _cool_, Rosie!" he said, giddily. "Met her a couple of weeks ago in Diagon Alley, I've seen her almost every day since then! She's cute and funny and–"

"Oi!" Toby suddenly called from the table. "Are you two going to stand there cuddling all night? 'cause if so, you're gonna have to starve!"

Laughing, I just gave Trevor's waist a quick squeeze before we moved to join our friends at the table; I'd get the full story later. Right now, I wanted to have dinner with insane idiots I called my friends.

* * *

"God, Scorpius, this is kind of creepy …" I hissed, clinging to his hand as we darted amongst the gravestones. Even though it was still early, the winter sun had disappeared a long time ago and as it turns out, cemeteries at night kind of freaked me out! I think it was the combined atmosphere of the slushy ground from winter rain, bare trees silhouetted against the moon and the idea that we were walking over _dead bodies in the ground_.

"Rosie, you can't be _scared_," Scorpius rolled his eyes, breath puffing out in the freezing air. "We both _know_ that ghosts can't hurt us."

"I know, but couldn't this have waited until morning?" I asked, desperately.

"How could you _possibly_ wait until morning?" Scorpius said, excitedly. Giving my hand one last tug, he practically ran with me to Astoria Malfoy's gravestone. "Hi, Mum!" he called.

"Hey, Mrs Malfoy," I said, supressing a smile.

We'd been through a lot since Astoria Malfoy had passed away, over two years ago now. I knew that Scorpius visited her here frequently, though I often didn't accompany him; I was a bit more cynical than he was, and I found it difficult to stand in front of a slab of rock and feel a connection to the person it represented. But on occasions like this, I always made an exception, because it meant a lot to Scorpius to talk to his mum and I had to admit, I missed Astoria. I hadn't been back here since we'd come down on the second anniversary of her death, back in October. I was grateful that this time, we were coming with much happier things to talk about.

"I know, I only visited you like, last week," Scorpius was saying, pulling on my hand so I could stand closer, moving to wrap his arm around my waist. I had my hands shoved deep in my pockets, but I instinctively curled into his side. "but something brilliant happened today!"

"Sorry, there was absolutely no way to contain his excitement–" I began, hastily.

"Rose and I are engaged!" Scorpius burst out, the grin on his face so endearing, I just wanted to kiss him on the spot. Ah, what the hell? I did; he leaned into me for a moment, but then, he was suddenly pulling away and wrapping his arms around me tightly.

"Whoa – hey –!" I said in surprise, dragging my hands out of my warm jacket to hug him back. "What's … what's this for?"

Scorpius was silent for a few moments, in which he simply held me. His face was pressed against my hair and for a while, all I could hear was the hooting of far off owls and traffic from the Muggle streets not far away from the cemetery. Then, I heard Scorpius's voice, small and quiet,

"… I miss her."

"Oh, Scorpius," I murmured against his jacket. "I know."

"I just …" He sighed. "I'm so _happy_, Rosie, and I wish she could actually be here. Actually be excited for us, instead of me just yelling at her gravestone. I wish she could hug us and be there to stop Dad from going nuts at the news, I wish …"

"Hey," I said, pulling back slightly so I could look at him in the dimmed light from the lamps that lit up the cemetery path. "It's ok, I swear. God only knows this is hard, but I'm telling you, somewhere, she can hear us and she is _shrieking_ with delight."

"_Rosie_–"

"I know, I know, 'I don't actually believe that'," I cut over him. "but _you _do, and you need reminding. I miss her, too, Scorpius. Hell, I …"

Still wrapped up in each other, I turned my head to face Astoria's gravestone, Scorpius copying my stance. I always found this bit hard, but I managed to make the words come. "I didn't think he'd do it," I told Scorpius' mother. "He's been screwing around almost since the last time I visited! But today, I snapped and he actually did it! You should be so proud of him, Mrs Malfoy. It was actually bloody romantic."

"_I love you_," Scorpius whispered, forehead pressed to my cheek, before glancing down and adding, "Honestly, I was sort of making it up as I went along. Guess I'm just naturally gooey inside, right, Mum?"

"Are you kidding?" I told him. "That speech was a one-off! The only time you will ever top it is the day we actually get married."

"Oi! I can be romantic!"

"When have you _ever_ said something romantic to me?"

"Um …" Scorpius wracked his brains for a moment.

* * *

_(The Pointless One)_

_"Not many people expect someone to just kiss them when they're busy yelling at them!"_

_"But you were – we were – GAH!" Malfoy stammered, threading his hands in his hair in frustration. "I don't believe this! To think I actually fell in love with you!"_

_What?_

_Did he just–?_

_"You _what_?"_

_"I …" Malfoy looked stunned, frozen. I wouldn't have been surprised if he clapped a hand over his mouth. "I didn't … I mean … oh, god …"_

_"Did you just …?" That's it. I'm in shock. I honestly think I'm going to fall over. "Did you just say you fell in _love_ with me?"_

_Malfoy had gone bright red, which was even more crazy. "Erm … yes?"_

* * *

I snorted. "Yeah, and that happened after me slapping you round the face for kissing me," I pointed out. "Got anything better?"

"Uh, when we got together?"

* * *

_(The Right One) _

_"Malfoy, at the Quidditch Celebrations, when we snogged … I have to admit, that was the most right I had ever felt."_

_Malfoy seemed to get an odd look in his eyes. He seemed to deliberate before saying, "… me, too."_

_This shocked me slightly. "What?"_

_"Yeah …" He still looked frustrated, no matter how odd his eyes still looked. I had seen that look before; just before we kissed behind the sofa_ _at the Quidditch Celebrations. "Look," he said. "You _know _how I feel about Lucy Harley; hell, I told you straight to your face, and even in front of Lucy, on more than one occasion, and you _still _don't believe me! But I _don't _fancy her. I know she's not the one for me. And I'm sorry I can't help but feel right when I'm around you! So for Merlin's sake, just admit how you feel about me!"_

* * *

"It was a screaming match in front of hundreds of other people, Scorpius. Try something else."

"What about our second anniversary–?"

"You gave me a heart attack dragging me all the way up to the North Tower to stargaze, only in the end you didn't know any of the constellations!" I laughed, remembering the incident from our seventh-year. "Face it, Scorpius. We're _not_ a romantic couple."

"Well. I came through for the proposal," Scorpius said, turning back to his mother. "Mum … sometimes it seems so stupid to come down here, just to tell you stuff," he admitted, tightening his arms around me. "I mean … you're gone. But talking to you like this … it gives me a connection. And I know Rosie doesn't believe in it," he added, nudging me with his nose. "but the fact that she comes with me for moments like this makes me love her a little bit more."

I smiled at that, but before I could reply, he suddenly cried, "Aha! See! That was romantic, wasn't it?"

"Oh, fine, I'll admit, you have your moments," I told him. "Mrs Malfoy … just thank you, for raising your son. I hate him, but he's kind of going to be mine for the rest of our lives, so if it weren't for you …"

"I love you, Mum," Scorpius said, quietly.

"I hope you're happy for us," I added.

"She is," Scorpius answered.

I stared at the gravestone and remembered Astoria's smile. I remembered meeting her for the first time after we'd gotten together; all strained voices and fake excitement at my house as our families got together for dinner. She had been the only one who didn't look like someone was gutting them alive.

"I know," I said in answer. Then, after a few moments, I added, "Scorpius … not to break the moment here, but my arse is _seriously_ freezing …"

Scorpius grinned through a kiss to the side of my head. "Then let's go," he said. He moved quickly to kiss his hand and gently touch it to the gravestone. "I'll see you later, Mum! Right now, I think Rose and I have some celebrating to do."

"Bloody hell, don't say it like _that_, your mum would think – _Scorpius_!" I gasped, since the gloved hand still wrapped around me had moved to the back pocket of my jeans.

"What?" he asked.

"At least wait until we get home! God, it's creepy thinking about doing _that_ in a graveyard …"

* * *

Scorpius _had_ at least waited until we got home. In fact, he lasted almost the exact amount of time it took for us to throw our jackets off and start peeling away our thousands of layers. I had barely made it to our bedroom, kicking off my shoes, when he grabbed me by the waist, slamming the bedroom door shut and throwing me up against it.

"Scorpius–!" I laughed into his kiss, heat sizzling through me. I'd almost forgotten what had sparked this burst of passion as I just sank into him, grabbing his hips and pulling him flush against me. But then, he said roughly,

"You–" He nipped at my bottom lip. "–are going to be _Mrs Malfoy_."

"Oh,_ god_," I said, for a moment totally not in reference to his comment. "I don't know whether to feel ecstatic or terrified at the thought. I mean, Mrs Malfoy? _Really_?"

"I know how _I_ feel," Scorpius murmured before kissing me again, distracting me with the stoke of his tongue, the feel of his fingers digging into my shoulders before dragging down the sides of my body, purposefully touching every dip and curve. Needing more, I wrapped my legs around him, letting him haul me into his arms, and I moaned at the friction.

"You … you think we'll get through his engagement without screaming?" I wanted to know, breathing fast against his lips.

"Are you kidding?" Scorpius grinned, wrapping his arms tighter as he moved away from our bedroom door, nearly tripping over his shoes in his haste, and collapsing onto our bed with me. "I bet you freak out like Bea did the day of. Or better yet, you run away!"

"Run away?" I said as Scorpius reached back and unwrapped my legs from around him. I frowned for a second before he shoved me back against the mattress, his hands suddenly under my shirt and bending to kiss the skin he exposed at my stomach. "I … uh … no! No, that'll be you."

"Don't think so," he murmured, licking a trail from my bellybutton.

"Our dad's will get into a fight," I pointed out, hoping my voice didn't sound as strangled as I thought. "And Bea and Libby will end up having a competition to see who gets to be – _oh, my god!_ – M-Maid of Honour!" I managed to get out, one of my hands screwed into the duvet cover, the other threading through Scorpius's hair when he let his teeth do a number against my skin that he _knew_ drove me crazy.

"You would consider not picking Bea?" Scorpius laughed, taking hold of the hem of my shirt, before dragging it up. I leaned forward so he could pull it off over my head and throw it somewhere across the room.

"Well, I would in the end," I grinned as Scorpius went back to assaulting my skin with his lips. Shit, Scorpius, keep doing that and I'll– "but it would be fun to watch the carnage!"

"Never knew how evil you could be," Scorpius said, coming dangerously high up my stomach. I burned all over as his hands just skimmed the swell of my chest, enough to tease and almost have me begging; and believe me, it normally takes me a _lot_ longer to get to the begging stage. "You could've been a Slytherin."

"Say that again, and I'll call you a Ravenclaw."

"Fair enough," Scorpius answered, letting his hands continue to wander as he moved up my body with his lips, now reaching my collar.

"Question," I gasped, wrapping a leg back around him as he eased the straps of my bra off my shoulders, massaging the skin there as he kissed my neck. "Are you going to let me touch you at _all_ tonight?"

"Oh, we'll get to that," Scorpius answered. "For now, let me ravish my _fiancée_."

"But you–_oh_–" I cut myself off in a strangled moan as his hands massaged down once more. "O-ok. I can work with that for now. Shit, I have a fiancé!"

"You just noticed?"

"_Scorpius_!" I said, the knowledge just hitting me. I moved my hands, from where they had been almost ripping my duvet to shreds, to either side of his face. "We're getting _married_!"

"Only took us seven years!" he agreed and I crushed my lips to his. Then, he was moving against me and _oh, bloody hell_, I could get used to the idea of having this for the rest of my life. If you had told sixteen-year-old Rose that she would be _marrying_ Scorpius Malfoy in seven years, she wouldn't have believed you.

Twenty three year old Rose still didn't believe this. As more clothes were shed as the night went on and skin met skin, it hit me just how far the two of us had managed to come. I still didn't know when exactly I fell in love, or when the screaming had given way to more tolerable bickering. I knew that we'd never really stop fighting completely because, hell, our relationship made no bloody sense! We hurt each other, we teased each other, but in the end, we loved each other. I'd made the mistake of thinking that wasn't enough, but I was wrong.

"It'll always be enough."

"Ro – Rose?" Scorpius gasped in confusion.

"I love you," I said into his mouth, twining our hands together. "and I swear, it'll _always_ be enough."

I used to worry about trying to get things right. Hell, I used to _freak_ when it seemed like nothing was working out and that everything was going up shit creek without a paddle! But if the past year had taught me anything, it was that you were _never_ going to get things completely right. Shit happened, life continued and things went wrong, but the thing was, that didn't _matter_. Nothing was ever going to be perfect. Life wasn't perfect.

Scorpius and I weren't perfect. We were messy and complicated. We were dramatic and loud. We screwed up and made mistakes, and essentially, we were all wrong for each other.

But we were wrong _together_.

And that kind of made us right.

Conclusion to getting it right: 

-It's hard. It's not for the faint of heart. Attempt it, if you dare …

… but if you do, it's _so_ _worth it_.

Rose: 27, Scorpius: 22.

(I'm sorry, who won? Why that's right, _I_ did!).

* * *

_The end. _

* * *

A/N: I honestly don't know what to say here. GIR World has been an incredible journey with you guys and I am simply honoured that you have all taken the time to read my story and tell me what you think. The support was honestly overwhelming!

I hope that this epilogue lived up to your expectations of a satisfying ending. I would like to take the time here to ask something that I also asked at the end of GIR: _what was your favourite line/character/chapter/moment/anything from this story? _I know you guys liked my story, but I would _love_ to hear why. :)

I will not say a flat out 'no' to the idea of any more sequels, because hell, I did that at the end of GIR and look where I ended up! But I _will_ say that I have absolutely nothing planned for their wedding and/or any other aspect of Rose and Scorpius's lives after this one. And I will mention, for anyone who happens to be interested, that I have other (Rose/Scorpius) stories that I plan to post soon after this one, so keep a lookout; I'll be around!

(On a side note, I've sort of been playing with the idea of writing the story of James and Libby; would anyone actually be interested in reading this?)

I don't think I can even begin to describe the depths of my gratitude and thanks for every single review, suggestion, death threat or comment, so I will just say this:

_Thank you. For everything._

Until next time -

- Moon. :D


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